This guide was nerfed hard when season 3 hit, All forms of penetration other then black cleaver and abyssal scepter got nerfed, and this saddens me, as people would tend to build MR against these champs, and now these guides arent as viable. however, if the community still wishes to use my guides, i wont stop them. GLHF

Hello! Just another AP mid guide from me, (My favorite role) Hope this guide works out for anyone who decides to try it; i love the guide, and regularly go super positive with this build. Malzahar, Karthus, Orianna, And Cassiopeia are my current favorite champions.

I take Flat AP quints and glyphs, as to maximize early burst and farm easier, flat mana-regen seals for better mana sustain, even though "Space Aids" gives mana back on kill, and flat AD marks for early auto attack harass and easier farm. This may sound weird, but it really does help on champions that use their auto attacks a lot, like Malzahar and Lux, and adds on a lot of extra damage. As for masteries, i take everything to increase AP/Magic damage in the offense tree, and everything to deal with mana early in the utility tree, while grabbing inproved recall, and a point in swiftness, as those two have saved me a fair amount of times.

TL, DR: AP masteries, mostly AP runes, with AD marks.

This is a pure Damage malzahar guide. A lot of what makes this guide work so well, is being able to possition yourself to best possible point, making all of your damage come off on as many targets as possible, or all at once on one target, ensuring a kill. I start with boots and pots (2 health 1 mana) to be able to dodge enemy spells and be able to sustain for a bit. I then try to farm as much as possible, and try not to go back untill I have at least 1600 gold. If i dont have that much, then i'll settle for a blasting wand, along with a few potions, and return to lane. Build into deathcap, then grab sorcerers shoes for extra damage early. usually by now, i've gotten at least 1 kill, and have been able to out-farm the enemy mid, as well has harass heavily. After deathcap and sorcerers shoes, grab all the magic pen items (Void Staff and Haunting Guise) and then an Abyssal Scepter. For your final item, grab an Archangel's Staff. After you have a final build, Grab all the elixirs, to max out your possible damage, You may be thinking, "For a High damage build, Only having 375 AP doesn't seem too high." However, realize that Mobafire doesn't take into account the extra 30% AP from Rabadon's, and the 5% from Archmage, or the extra from Archangel's Staff. This should wind up somewhere around 500-600. Enjoy W+Crab+E+ult bursts.

TL, DR: Super magic pen + MR shred + Damage, as seen above in item build

I realize, for a malzahar guide, it's kind of odd to get your E first. However; your E will actually do the same damage as your Q at level 1, with the same exact AP ratio (.8 damage for every 1 AP) This means, yes, level 1 team fights you should have your Q, however, i find getting your E first just as good, as it tends to have a "Scaring" effect on people, making them think they should get out. if it doesn't make them leave, then it will most likely make them hesitate for a moment. Either way, i personally don't experience many level 1 team-fights. Get your E first, and farm with it, as well as your auto attack. Max it first, as it gives you mana back when something effected by it dies. After you max your E, max out your Q next, as it has a very large range, and does a large amount of damage. Obviously max your W last, as it will give you a very large portion of damage while you're ulting. As with all ults, you should level it at 6, 11, and 16.

TL, DR: EQW

Flash: I take flash on just about everyone, because of the massive amount of utility it offers. You can use it to initiate a fight, or get out of a fight, or steal a large neutral creep (Red, Blue, Dragon, Baron.) I love using flash, for those few chases where you're just out of range while chasing, so you flash in and fire a burst and get a kill for it
Ignite: I take ignite on just about every ADC and AP mid, for the damage it adds to the burst, as well as the finishing nature of it. An interesting note about ignite is you can use it while you're ulting (yes WHILE).

TL, DR: Flash ignite, ignite while ulting

Use your E to farm, this means, use it whenever there are at least 5 minions (Creeps as i call them) present, and this would give you at least equal mana back from your E cast. Try to last hit with your Auto-attack anyways, as there isn't a guarantee that your E will last hit, however, if the E is still doing damage when the effected target dies, it will transfer to a nearby target and restart the timer, and will keep chaining as long as the target dies, and there is another target nearby. if there are 3 caster minions all at medium-low health in the back, feel free to use your Q to farm them. i don't recommend using your W to farm much, as it does a percentage of enemy health, and this damage will be minimal against minions. I only use my W when i plan to ult.

TL, DR: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

It is OK to initiate a fight as malz, as long as the other team has no long range hard CC, what i mean by Hard CC means things that will break channels, such as stuns, snares, taunts, sleeps, charms, silences, and anything else, Soft CC is something that will not break channels, but will stop someone from recalling, such as normal damage, slows, and reveals. The way to initiate as malzahar Is you throw down your Q and your W over the same target at almost the same time, hit your E, and then ult them, and ignite while you're ulting. this leads to a massive amount of damage over time, and will usually kill them before any of the damage over time effects are finished. This will also draw the enemy team's aggression onto you, so once you get your kill or secure it for the team, back off and let your E/W/Q come off of cooldown. once any of those come off, feel free to throw some extra damage back into a fight. Just be careful not to die. When you aren't the designated initiator, let your tank go in, then throw down your burst as explained above.

TL, DR: Q+W, E, R, F

Pros: Extreme Burst damage, Easy to farm with, Scales Extremely well with both AP and leveling, Will win almost Any 1v1(provided his cd's are up), Voidlings, and HE LEVITATES :D
Cons: No built in escape(like a dash or jump), Easy to get greedy post 6, almost always focused first, Easily Pushes his lane, Takes too long to set up a full combo

TL, DR:
Pros: awesome.
Cons: Not pure OP

I hope this guide helps you on your path to victory summoners, as it has for me, I apologize for text walls in some areas, however, i have added quick summaries at the bottom of each.

GLHF d-(^.^)z