Mord is one of them most impressive champions in the game with regard to damage out put teamed with survivability.

Mord also boasts a powerful ultimate and with the addition of a Rylai's Crystal Scepter, considerable utility.

Too often, however, Mord players loose sight of his amazing potential and focus on a single aspect of Mord too heavily (pure AP builds, full tank builds ect).

I believe that Mord should be build with with an offensive mindset but as an Off-Tank.

Mord is one of the few champions where a good offense is a good defense.

Since most of his abilities are AoE, and provide him a shield through his passive, I find that you are most survivable when your damage output is highest.

Because this is true, I feel that Offensive masteries provide the most benefit to Mord.

Under the new critical system, a small amount of crit goes a long way in harassing.
Additional ability power, %damage, and spell pen will help farming, harassing, and provide more shielding.
Additional attack damage will prove extra farming potential and will improve the effectiveness of Mace of Spades.
I stay away from lethality and sunder. Since none of Mord's abilities deal physical damage, armor pen is of little benefit and the small amount of crit chance doesn't justify the mastery points in lethality.

For summoner skills, I lean towards ignite plus exhaust.

Ignite is a fantastic SS to run in combination with your ult. The double dot of the ult plus ignite allows additional burst to get the enemy champion's ghost more quickly and assure the kill.

My second SS of choice is exhaust. Mord has limited range, and while his passive provides Mord with good durability, you will still often need be in harm's way to be effective.
This makes Mord especially vulnerable to fighters who also boast high damage, mobility, and often powerful crowd control.
Exhaust is very effective for shutting down fighters. With the addition of cripple, Mord will also devastate the enemy due to the additional magic penetration.
Exhaust's slow will stack with Rylai's slow additionally. This will heavily cripple an enemy to the point where escape won't be possible.
Improved cripple's magic resistance debuff will also improve the effectiveness of the sunfire cloak's passive and the liche bane's activated.

Many people run ghost or flash on Mord. I feel that the benefit in mobility gained by these pales in comparison to the utility gained with exhaust for ganking and shutting down fighters. By rushing boots and Rylai's, Mord should have sufficient move speed advantage over opponents without these summoner skills. Additionally, since Mord can't otherwise crowd control or position opponents, I feel that it is better for Mord to slow a target down (exhaust) than speed himself up (ghost/flash) in most situations.

That being said. Mord has limited escape mechanics with this build. Therefor, higher map awareness, use of wards, and clairvoyance support are highly beneficial.

Siphon of destruction is and always has been Mord's damage staple.
It should be kept max level possible except when up grading the ultimate is possible.


Mace of spades is a good harass tool, and a good farming tool. But this ability is your lowest priority. The damage scaling by leveling it is sub-par. Get one point into it at level 2 and then leave it alone until no other options are available.

Creeping death is a very good shield ability. It is a major source of survivability for Mord and can be used to support teammates. This is your second ability to level.

Children of the Grave is Mord's ultimate ability. It provides Mord with additional survivability via spell vamp and if the target dies with the debuff present you are awarded a ghost of the enemy. This ghost can be game breaking if an AD carry is possessed.

Keep your ultimate max level. It has absolutely highest priority.

Mord's runes are the key to his success.

A well runed Mord can devastate the enemy early on and give him maximum lane presence and farm. This sets the tone for the rest of the game.

Spell pen marks are essential to Mord.
I go with dodge seals and pick up nimbleness in the defense tree. This will help chasing, and fleeing considerably and provide a decent survivability boost.

I go with flat CDR glyphs. These will help the consistency of your dps and help get a steady flow of shielding to your champion.

I like straight AP quints. 15 AP early game will help you farm and harass. Mord is seen as nonthreatening until level 6. Make them pay if they allow you to hit them with siphon.

With all the potential routes available for Mord to take, it is difficult to balance survivability, damage output, mobility, and utility. Through experience and testing, I have found this to be the best build order for ME.

I will explain my reasoning as we go.

I begin with a Doran's Shield. The shield provides mord with health regeneration so that he can use his abilities without the risk of putting himself at a health disadvantage. It also provides mord with a good health boost and some armor.

This is the best item for Mord to start with because he starts off needing to play defensively. Many keen players will want to force Mord out of the creep waves early where he can be easily harassed. Mord starts off being pretty weak. If you are forced out of the creep wave you are at a great disadvantage. The shield will help buff Mords hp so that he can keep his lane presence.

The next thing I focus on getting is boots. Since you lack the mobility of ghost, having higher passive move speed is essential. The CDR boots help Mord sustain his damage and are a cheap way of gaining CDR without unused stats.

The next item I purchase is a Rylai's Crystal Scepter. The Scepter is game breaking for Mord. The range on your ultimate is pretty extreme and being able to slow your opponent so drastically for the ult's duration is incredibly useful while ganking. The item also buffs you heal further and provides a considerable amount of AP.

I then build a Sunfire Cloak. The cloak is a great damage source, especially with spell pen, and will further buff your hp and provide a considerable amount of armor.

I next buy a negatron cloak. If you have trouble early on with casters nuking you, I suggest buying the negatron before upgrading the first giant's belt to a sunfire.

I then build a Deathcap. This item will drastically improve you output while also helping your survivability via shielding and spell vamp.

I next upgrade the negatron to an abyssal scepter. Make sure a teammate doesn't already have one before buying the blasting wand. If someone already has one go for a Force of Nature.

I finally sell the doran's shield and build a Liche Bane. This will help your mobility further and the effect on the item can devastate enemy carries.

This build is for an offensively oriented off-tank Mord. I really enjoy this build and have had a lot of success with it.

Feel free to comment and vote below!

Enjoy!