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Not a huge issue. He can out trade you early, respect his level 1. As the lane goes on, if you're even you win hard. Dodge his Q's, get ninja tabi. Post 6 you smash him and kill him on spawn with R. Just don't make mistakes early and don't let him snowball.
Camille
Camille is more annoying than anything else, but not much of a threat. Trade with her when her passive is down and farm until 6. Post 6 we win and kill her in R. She can never all in us after as long as she doesn't get ahead.
Akali
This is a somewhat difficult lane for us. Akali trades very hard early and it's difficult to answer trades back with her shroud up. Try to bait out shroud and then punish her. If we can not give up too much early we end up outscaling and winning lane after 6. Always try to bait out shroud before ulting in this match up or she can stall our R duration out in camouflage.
Cho'Gath
No threat to us at all. Spells can be annoying to dodge since we are immobile but we win at all points in the game. Straight forward match up. Trade hard.
Darius
Hard lane early levels, do not go for extended trades with him. Once we are 6 we can all in and win if lane has not gotten out of hand. Ignite is very good in this match up because snowballing is critical. Don't get behind in this match up or we won't win.
Dr. Mundo
Easy tank match up for us. We out trade mundo at all points in the game and are more useful.
Fiora
This is a really hard lane for Mordekaiser and one of his only "true" counters. Don't lose too much health trading early and try to farm under turret as she'll inevitably push us in. Don't die in this lane either. After 2 items we can't really do much to her in the side lane. She can riposte our R if she's good and predicts. Hug walls when she R's to deny her the full proc. Tough lane and we get outscaled.
Gangplank
Moderately annoying early as he can poke us down hard with Q and grasp. Build early tabi in this lane and try to concede early CS without taking too much damage. We win hard post 6 so just survive the miserable early lane. Trade back if you see an opening but vs a good GP we don't win early.
Garen
Skill match up. Don't trade with him level 1 because his AA+Q combo is too strong for us. Be patient, build tabi, and farm for 6. We can win post 6 when we all in. Can out trade him and push him in at level 3 but be mindful of jungle proximity, sometimes better to let him push the wave.
Gnar
Gnar is more of a nuisance than any sort of threat. Early he can poke us down and jump away if we hit E, but there is nothing he can do after we get 6. Can kill Gnar on cooldown with R. Easy lane.
Gragas
No threat if tank. If building AP respect his burst but still a pretty easy match up. We should win all trades early, mid and late. We also outscale.
Hecarim
Be careful of the teleport/ignite cheese. Know they have a summoner advantage. We still win this lane hard. Can trade early, if he jumps on us we're too tanky to kill quickly enough.
Heimerdinger
Heimer is hard for us. Punishes us hard early game and isn't very easy to kill. Also difficult to gank. Build an early spectre's cowl in this lane and farm. Mordekaiser can be more useful in team fights so be patient. Heimer builds early zhonya's so he can also be tricky to kill inside of our R. Punish him before he finishes zhonya's post 6.
Illaoi
This lane is pretty easy. Dodge E and you win all trades. Lane proceeds to get easier post 6 where we can all in her at almost any point. Morello 3rd is a good pick up here, can also run ignite in this lane.
Irelia
Irelia isn't a hard lane. Be careful levels 1 & 2 where she is pretty strong, and be mindful of her fully stacked passive. Other than that we win trades at all points. Build tabi and destroy her post 6 with R.
Jarvan IV
Joke match up. J4 top is already weak but he has no answer for us. Loses at all points.
Jax
Jax has a lot of trouble against Mordekaiser. He can't block any of our damage and we steal his ult stats in our ult. We out trade him at all points except level 1 with counterstrike. Don't overcommit level 1 and this lane is a breeze.
Jayce
This is another hard lane early that becomes pretty easy post 6. It's a skill match up that's Jayce favored early and Morde favored later. If you can hit E on him we trade really favorably, if we miss we get punished hard. Build early tabi and just farm until 6.
Kayle
Easy lane. We can trade early with her, look for pulls with E and abuse her short range early. At 6 we can just all in and kill her every time.
Kennen
I find that the Kennen lane is pretty hard. He can harass us early and is also reasonably strong post 6 when we R him. He can answer with R. The key to winning this lane is conceding CS early and getting to 6 without losing much health. If you are 100% HP with R we can win all-ins every time. If we have taken damage Kennen can kill us in our R if we aren't careful. He also outscales and team fights better than us. This lane needs to be played smart.
Kled
Kled feels like a skill match up. His trades are pretty efficient if he hits Q with the grievous wounds buff. Trading early can be difficult. Dodge Q and we win trades. Get tabis and we win at 6.
Lissandra
She doesn't have the damage to do anything to us. Get an early cowl and stomp the lane.
Lucian
This lane is a nightmare. Lucian out trades us hard and is difficult to hit with E. He needs to make a big mistake in order to be punished. Can win at 6 but Lucian is not bad at kiting in our R. Get early tabi and try to CS under turret for a decent mid game.
Malphite
Very easy lane. Cannot trade with us at any point in the game.
Maokai
Very easy lane. Cannot trade with us at any point in the game.
Nasus
This lane is easy just make sure to punish Nasus early when he goes for CS. Also snowball the lane post 6 with R. If Nasus gets ahead this lane becomes a nightmare, like all Nasus lanes. Don't let it happen and it won't be a problem. Play aggressively.
Nautilus
Very easy, trades worse than us. Can't punish us.
Olaf
Nobody really plays Olaf top these days but this lane is actually quite hard. He wins early levels and is very strong against us mid game. He can R out of our R so we have no snowball potential against him post 6. Just get tabi, farm and try to go even, you will be more useful late game.
Ornn
He trades a bit better than other tanks but is still an easy lane. Save E for if he goes in and punish hard since he has no way of getting back out after he uses E.
Pantheon
Pretty easy lane for Mordekaiser. We trade better than him and push him into turret. Get tabis early.
Poppy
Very easy lane. Early game don't hug walls and give her free trades. Other than that we win at all points and post 6.
Quinn
This lane is hard, even post 6. Early game buy early tabi and farm under turret. Quinn can kite us in R fairly decently with her Q and E. Try not to take too much damage before ulting to ensure we can finish her off before dying.
Renekton
Skill match up that is Renekton favored early. Do NOT trade with him early. Post 6 we can fight him and win with tabis. You have to be passive early or he will snowball this lane.
Rengar
He can cheese us early levels but loses hard post 6. Just survive the early lane and you'll have no problem killing him off cooldown with R. Build tabi.
Riven
Tabis, tabis, tabis. Can't emphasize how important it is in this match up. Riven trades into us fairly well, this is a skill match up that might even be slightly Riven favored. Be careful of her trades pre 6 and her all in potential once she has R. We should be able to out trade her post 6 and have a slightly better all-in. With tabis you should win when you ult. Try to bait out her E before trading.
Rumble
Pretty easy lane. We out trade and all points. Early cowl is helpful here. Our ult takes away his R, wait til he casts equalizer to use our ult for that reason.
Ryze
Don't take too much damage from him early in lane. We win post 6 but he is an obnoxious champion to lane against and is pretty OP on this patch. Get an early cowl and survive until we can kill in R.
Shen
No threat, weak tank that can't trade into us. His W blocks nothing and he'll be pushed in and have difficulty roaming or ulting his team.
Singed
We can't do anything against his proxy which is annoying but he can't really do anything to us either. He'll kite us around in our R with ghost but we outscale and have a much stronger mid game.
Sion
Avoid getting cheesed by his Q while he's in brush. Otherwise there is nothing to this lane. We win at all points like most tank match ups. Push him in and win.
Swain
Annoying early but easy to fight post 6. Early cowl and avoid taking too much damage early, all-in at 6.
Sylas
Not played often but cannot do anything against Morde. We out trade him at all points, only annoying part about Sylas is he can steal our ult (arguably one of the best in the game) and use it against you/your team. Morellos 3rd item is decent here.
Tahm Kench
Pretty free lane. Stand in minions and dodge Q and we win trades hard. Post 6 makes the lane even easier.
Teemo
Annoying early but becomes a stomp at 6. Don't take too much damage before 6, build cowl to survive, and all in post 6.
Trundle
Not too good against us. His level 1 is strong with his Q, but that's the only point where is even remotely strong against us.
Tryndamere
This lane is hard, not only does Trynd always take ignite, which is really effective against Morde, but he trades hard against us. He's also capable of fighting us post 6 and winning. Focus on an early ninja tabi pick up and avoid his early all-ins with a full rage bar. If he spins into you to trade, stand in minions and pull him back in on the way out and punish him with Q + minion damage.
Urgot
Moderately annoying lane. He has reasonable range on his Q and can poke us down. Try not to take much damage early and we win post 6. Be careful of using R if you're low from his poke, he can kill us with his R before we finish him off.
Vayne
This lane is very hard. Vayne out trades us hard and is difficult to hit with E. She needs to make a big mistake in order to be punished. Can win at 6 but Vayne is not bad at kiting in our R. Get early tabi and try to CS under turret for a decent mid game.
Vladimir
Annoying early but free lane post 6. Get an early cowl and avoid taking too much damage early. All-in him when you hit 6. Morellos 3rd item here is good.
Volibear
Easy lane just be mindful of his passive and don't get baited by it. He heals a lot from it. Morello's 3rd item is good.
Wukong
Wukong can't do anything against Morde. His trades are weak and we can pull him back in after his trade pattern. Very easy lane.
Yasuo
Easy lane assuming Yasuo doesn't snowball on us. Respect his level 1 & 2 and you shouldn't have problems. We win after 2 and onward. All-in him at 6. Build tabi.
Yorick
Yorick is deceptively strong against Morde. This is ultimately a skill match up, we have to avoid his E or he can harass us out of lane. If we avoid E/ghoul toss we can out trade him. We win post 6.
Cassiopeia
Really tough lane early. Can trade into us and we have no answer unless we hit a lucky E. Can win post 6 after an early cowl and conceding some CS. All-in post 6 if you haven't taken too much damage.
Karma
Annoying match up, she can poke us early and kite around. We win post 6 and we are much more useful mid game. Build cowl farm and be patient for your R.
Sett
Don't get baited by the massive shield on his W. Otherwise this lane is pretty straight forward and we farm until 6, then win hard post 6.
Viego
Pretty straightforward lane. Keep your passive up when trading with him and you should win all trades. Early bramblevest is OP in this match up. All in him at 6.
Hey, I'm Real. I'm a former LCS coach who previously coached Golden Guardians and Team Liquid. I am also a top laner and have played Mordekaiser since his rework. His playstyle is actually fairly similar to my favorite champion Darius, so I enjoyed playing Mordekaiser right away. I want to share this guide with you to help show how to use him optimally. I have peaked masters in Season 5 and usually hover around diamond most seasons now. This guide is recommended to those of you who are looking to pick up Mordekaiser in the future, or maybe just hone your current skills on Mordekaiser now. Enjoy the guide!
I recently got into streaming if you want to drop a follow, you can find me at: https://twitch.tv/lolreai
+ Tanky damage dealer
+ Lane bully
+ Strong mid game
+ Great carry killer
+ Not many bad lane match ups
+ Fairly easy to pick up
+ Strong core build
+ Can solo carry
Cons
- Ult can be QSS'd
- Immobile
- Clunky skillshots
- Vulnerable to ganks
- Slow cast animations
- High pick/ban rate on current patch
- Falls off late game
Abilities
Darkness Rise (Passive)
Mordekaiser's basic attacks deal bonus magic damage on-hit equal to 40% of his ability power.
After 3 basic attacks or abilities against enemy champions and epic monsters, Mordekaiser gains Darkness Rise for 5 seconds, causing him to deal 5-15 0.3) (+1-5% of target's maximum health) magic damage (depending on level) per second to all nearby enemies and gain 3 / 6 / 9% bonus movement speed (at levels 1 / 6 / 11).
Further basic attacks and abilities against enemy champions and epic monsters refresh Darkness Rise's duration.
Mordekaiser's passive is very strong and gives him big trading potential in lane. It also makes him a big threat for team fights because, in general, Darkness Rise will be active for the entirety of the fight. % max health on an ability like this is incredible and this scales for the whole game.
Obliterate
Mordekaiser slams down his mace, dealing 75 / 95 / 115 / 135 / 155 (+60% of ability power) (+5-139, depending on level) magic damage in an area. If he hits only a single enemy, the damage dealt is increased by 30 / 35 / 40 / 45 / 50%.
This will be your main staple for trading and the ability that makes Mordekaiser so strong in lane. Not only is this low cooldown, but the ability costs no mana and does a lot of damage to single target. Get used to using his trade pattern, and try to Obliterate isolated targets or targets you have pulled in with Death's Grasp.
Indestructible
Passive: Mordekaiser stores 35% of the damage he deals and 15% of the damage he takes (reduced by 75% against non-champions) as energy on his secondary resource bar.
Active: Mordekaiser consumes the stored energy to grant himself a decaying shield for 4 seconds. The shield value is equal to 5-30% of Mordekaiser's maximum health, depending on how much energy he had stored.
After 0.25 seconds, Mordekaiser can re-cast this ability to consume the shield, healing himself for 40 / 42.5 / 45 / 47.5 / 50% of the remaining shield amount.
This ability might look confusing but it's fairly straightforward. You get energy in your resource bar as opposed to mana when you attack or use abilities, and this is used strictly for Indestructible. This ability scales very well and increases Mordekaiser's already good trading capabilities. Try not to waste this and use it when your energy is low. Use it after a few trades when the bar is close to full so you get good efficiency from the shield + heal.
The shield is almost always better than the heal effect when trading so be sure that you don't pre-emptively press Indestructible again too early if you are still trading and have a good portion of shield active. It can also be used as a heal in lane if you are being poked down and have a full bar of energy. If you cannot go in to trade with a champ harassing you, you can opt to double tap W for a quick heal.
Active: Mordekaiser summons a deadly claw which drags enemies in an area towards him, dealing 80 / 95 / 110 / 125 / 140 (+60% of ability power) magic damage.
Death's Grasp is our utility spell and it is a very good one at that. The skillshot, while slow, has a huge hitbox. This also gives us passive magic penetration, increasing the damage on our kit overall by a lot. This will be one of your tools while trading in lane or looking for picks later in the game. Death's Grasp into Obliterate is a very basic and easy combo to get down, and it will be your main trading pattern for most of the game. Note that you can change how this skillshot pulls people. It is not only useful for pulling people into you, but pulling people away as well when you are trying to avoid a gank. Mess around with Death's Grasp in a practice game to get this down as it is a big help when playing Mordekaiser.
Realm of Death
Mordekaiser slows a target enemy champion by 75% for 0.5 seconds. If the target is still in range and targetable by the end of the duration, Mordekaiser banishes himself and the target to the Death Realm for 7 seconds. Champions outside of the Death Realm cannot enter or interact with the champions that are within.
Mordekaiser steals 10% of the target's current size, armor, magic resistance, health, attack damage, ability power and attack speed for the duration of the ability. If Mordekaiser kills his target, he consumes their soul, keeping the bonus stats until they respawn.
Arguably one of the best ultimates in the game. Realm of Death lets us isolate a target in a team fight and kill them without interference. It also allows us to take a threat out of a team fight (like a fed enemy carry) so they cannot harm our team for the duration. There is a lot of depth to the decision of how to use Realm of Death in a team fight, I'll try to break it down simply here.
In general it is best to use Realm of Death on the biggest threat on the enemy team, and, ideally, kill them during the duration or get them low enough where they can't be in the fight afterwards. In many games you will have an enemy carry who is fed out of their mind, and the purpose of using Realm of Death in these games is to simply keep them busy for 7 seconds while your team (hopefully) wins the fight. Kite around in Realm of Death and make use of your defensive build like Ninja Tabi or Zhonya's Hourglass to survive. Hopefully your team won the fight outside of your ult and together you can then kill the fed carry.
Tip: Realm of Death removes abilities from the ground when you ult an enemy. Abilities like Rumble's The Equalizer or Ekko's Parallel Convergence will disappear from terrain when they are ulted. Keep this in mind and use it to your advantage, it is a huge counter to certain champions and can turn a team fight around instantly.
Summoner Spells
Flash
Always take Flash, no exceptions. It is strictly the best summoner spell available in the game.
Teleport
This is generally the best second summoner to take on Mordekaiser. It allows you to get back to lane quickly after a mistake or, ideally, make plays around the map. I recommend looking for opportunities to Teleport bot lane when you have a lead if the opportunity arises. Once you have Rylai's Crystal Scepter it is almost a guaranteed kill if you can get behind them. This can snowball the game in your favor.
Ignite
Ignite is actually a pretty decent summoner on Mordekaiser. Lanes where you can use Ignite as an option are: Darius, Illaoi, and Tryndamere. These are all match ups where the enemy will be trying to all-in you frequently, have strong healing, and the need to snowball is necessary. It's hard to kite Mordekaiser in Realm of Death so this makes Ignite a nice option for your all-in.
Runes
Mordekaiser's Rune Page
I have run many different pages testing keystones + secondary trees on the new patch and I've come to conclusion that this is the best page for Mordekaiser. Conqueror is OP on the current patch and should be used. The amount of damage and healing it gives you is unmatched.
Triumph is the best here and self-explanatory, this rune will often save you in team fights or 2v1s with its effect. The bonus gold is nice too. Overheal and Presence of Mind are very underwhelming and borderline useless on Mordekaiser.
Legend: Tenacity, is, in my opinion, significantly better than Legend: Alacrity. Alacrity feels slightly better in lane and for last hitting but ultimately does not translate too much mid and late game, where Tenacity shines. Your team fighting with Tenacity is unmatched. The only time I would switch Tenacity out for Alacrity is in the odd case where the enemy comp has virtually no CC.
Last Stand is a bit better than Coup de Grace. As a front line champion you are soaking a lot of damage in fights, and will generally be low in fights when you're on the back line. Both are OK options but I find Last Stand optimal.
Ravenous Hunter is an insane rune, one of the best in the game for us. This is why we go domination tree. Since we have no mana and low cooldowns, we are often spamming our abilities. This makes Ravenous Hunter incredibly efficient on us and extra healing gets out of control quickly.
Switch the flex rune from armor to MR if vs. AP
Itemization
Liandry's Torment
Liandry's Torment is the first item you rush every game. This is a huge source of your damage, and when paired with Rylai's Crystal Scepter, it amplifies its effect. This also gives you magic penetration, a great stat on Mordekaiser. Overall this item is just too good to pass on and your best mythic option.
Rylai's Crystal Scepter
You are going to be getting Rylai's Crystal Scepter every game as well. This in conjunction with Liandry's Torment are the core that you rush every single game. Rylai's Crystal Scepter gives you HP, AP, and an incredibly strong effect for Mordekaiser's kit. He makes use of the passive + stats better than most champions in the game. Since you are immobile and can be kited, the slow helps you stick to enemies and ensure you are able to kill them.
Zhonya's Hourglass
Zhonya's Hourglass is a nice pick up for us. We are going to get this in the majority of our games as our 3rd item after our core build of Rylai's Crystal Scepter and Liandry's Torment. This item is not only good for general survivability, but it also allows to live against a huge threat when we use Realm of Death. The extra time this saves can mean the difference between living or not when ulting a strong target.
Morellonomicon
You should only really opt into Morellonomicon if the enemy team has significant healing champions. Otherwise pass on this, or sit on Oblivion Orb.
Banshee's Veil
Banshee's Veil is good against team comps that are heavy AP and have strong burst spells. If you find yourself in a situation where you're getting one shot or taken out of the fight by fed champions like Veigar or Annie, consider getting this after your core.
Void Staff
Only consider this if the enemy team is stacking MR (like in situations where your entire team is AP). Otherwise Death's Grasp already gives us quite a bit of magic penetration and we don't usually need it.
Dead Man's Plate
Arguably the best of the 3 armor items Dead Man's Plate is a good pick up after our core if the enemy has strong AD threats. The movement speed is nice on Mordekaiser and we find this useful in all scenarios.
Randuin's Omen
Randuin's Omen should be your first armor pick up if the enemy has a fed AD/crit user like Tristana, Yasuo, Xayah, etc. OR if the enemy team has multiple (2+) champions that are building crit. Otherwise stick to Dead Man's Plate.
Spirit Visage
Our most common magic resistance pick up. Get this against fed AP threats or a heavy AP team. This synergizes great with Indestructible and allows us to heal more. We will always get this unless the enemy has sustained damage casters such as Ryze or Cassiopeia. In that case we will first get Adaptive Helm.
Thornmail is very gold inefficient if you don't get good use of its passive. If you need it, holding onto Bramble Vest is almost always the best call until late game. Exceptions to this are maybe if enemy team has 3 healing autoattackers (ex: Trynd, Yi, etc.) but this is pretty rare. In general Thornmail is a trap and you shouldn't build it. Just hold onto to an early Bramble Vest in match ups where it is needed (ex: Tryndamere)
Early, Mid, & Late Game
Early Game
Early game as Mordekaiser you should first ask yourself how the match up is level 1 at the start of each game. Often times you will not be stronger early game than your opponent and need to play the lane accordingly. With a top lane filled with lane bullies like Darius, Renekton, and Ryze, we need to know how to play the lane. Mordekaiser's power spike comes at level 6 generally. Always ask yourself about the game state and match up before you get into the game. It helps you plan out your lane a lot.
Your general early game for Mordekaiser will play out similarly each game. Let the enemy laner push early (be careful not to push your lane with Obliterate). This will leave them susceptible to ganks. Mordekaiser can trade vs. a good portion of top laners early (see match up section), but our focus should be farming vs. most bruisers. We do have the chance to kill ranged or squishy top laners early if they misplay and get hit by Death's Grasp frequently. Throw out your E in ranged match ups to try and catch the opponent off guard.
At level 6 the dynamic of Mordekaiser's lane changes completely. We can all-in almost every champion at 6 and win. Ideally you have cs'ed well, got a decent recall in, and are back in lane with your Blasting Wand and Amplifying Tome at level 6. If the enemy steps up outside of tower range at this point always be prepared to Realm of Death them. Getting a lead post 6 will help us translate into a strong mid-game.
Tip: Every single time you have an extra 75g on a base pick up a Control Ward. Get in the habit of doing this on every recall. Good spots to place control wards early for top are in the top river brush, tri-brush, or pixel brush. Increasing your vision game is one of the best habits to get into in order to climb.
Mid Game
For the mid game, Mordekaiser should be primarily focused on using his 1 and 2-item power spike to skirmish/team fight when possible. If you have been farming decently, or better yet if you have a lead, you are very strong at this point in the game with Rylai's Crystal Scepter and Liandry's Torment and we need to make use of it.
If you have a lead at this point, you can stay top and continue to apply pressure and try to draw the jungler to you. At this point you should have the potential to 2v1, and if you are successful, it can really turn the game in your team's favor.
You can also leave top and help your jungler secure Rift Herald or help your team secure Dragon. A lot depends on the game state and how your team is doing. If your team is struggling on the bot side of the map it might be wise to roam down for a team fight and Dragon. If they are doing well it is unlikely you need to roam down to help and are better off pushing your lead top and continuing to draw jungle pressure.
Towards the 20 minute mark and onward you want to maintain baron control with your lead top if you have it. Help your jungler secure and clear vision around baron at this time. If you get a pick or two while they try to get vision you can look to take an early baron if the game state warrants it. Vision is everything and can't be understated. If you don't have a lead top help your team establish baron vision without getting picked off.
Late Game
For late game on Mordekaiser you are going to want to take the biggest threat out of a fight and hopefully kill them in your Realm of Death. Even if you can't kill the target, like if you are behind for some reason, still generally you'll want to use Realm of Death on the biggest threat to buy time for your team to win the team fight. Make use of items like Zhonya's Hourglass to survive if the carry is fed enough to kill you in Realm of Death.
It's hard to recommend an "all-in-one" approach to team fights since they are so dynamic and always different. Try to assess them on a case by case basis and close out the game.
Conclusion
Thanks for reading my guide on Mordekaiser. I hope you take the information learned here into your next Mordekaiser game on the rift.
If you also enjoyed the guide or found it helpful consider giving it an upvote! It helps me out.
If you want to see this guide used in action or have any questions for me, feel free to follow my Twitch stream. I am very responsive while streaming and focus on making the stream both educational and entertaining. See you around!
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