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Recommended Items
Runes: Confident Riftmaker
+10% Attack Speed
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+15-140 HP (lvls 1-18)
Spells:
Flash
Ignite
Items
Ability Order Every game
Darkness Rise (PASSIVE)
Mordekaiser Passive Ability
Threats & Synergies
Vayne
Completely unplayable match-up. There is no point in the game where you can beat vayne in a straight up 1v1, NOT EVEN in death realm. You will get kited like a dog and if the vayne has at least one brain cell she will not ever let you get close to her and won't let you farm. Not only all this, but also, you can't even itemise vs this bitch, with roughly 2/5 of her damage being true damage (steelcaps are a decent buy nonetheless). The only possible solution to this match-up would be getting babysat by your jungler but you cannot rely on that.
Champion Build Guide
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KeystoneRunes |
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Conqueror![]() |
Grasp of the Undying![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Lethal Tempo![]() ![]() ![]() |
Everything Else
Every other keystone than these three rarely find play on Mordekaiser, as they just simply don't fit his playstyle. I recommend never going any of these unless you're going a For-Fun-Build.
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Precision Tree |
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![]() Triumph![]() ![]() ![]() Last StandMordekaiser can make very good use of ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() Legend: Tenacity![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Legend: AlacrityTake ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Resolve Tree |
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![]() Conditioning![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Bone Plating![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Revitalize![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Unflinching![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() OvergrowthI like ![]() ![]() ![]() Second Wind![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Shield Bash![]() ![]() ![]() Demolish![]() |
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Inspiration Tree |
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![]() Approach Velocity![]() ![]() |
![]() Magical FootwearThe only other rune in the ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Everything Else
Every other rune than the ones stated have little to no synergy with Mordekaiser and should never be taken, unless you are going for a For-Fun-Build.
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Rune Stats |
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For the Rune Stats, there are a few combinations that you can choose from, depending on your preference and the build you will be going for.
Jak'Sho Default
When building ![]() ![]() |
Jak'Sho Defensive
Instead of taking Adaptive Force, you can take Armor or Magic Resist in the middle row. This is a better option for when you are less confident in a specific lane or on Mordekaiser in general. |
Riftmaker Default
When building ![]() ![]() |
Riftmaker Defensive
As with the tank build, instead of taking Adaptive Force, you can take Armor or Magic Resist in the middle row. This is a better option for when you are less confident in a specific lane or on Mordekaiser in general. |
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Summoner Spells |
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FlashAs an immobile champion, Mordekaiser needs ![]() ![]() |
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Ignite![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Ghost![]() ![]() |
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Teleport![]() ![]() ![]() |
Never choose your Mythic based solely on your lane opponent. Always have the entire enemy team in mind when deciding on your Mythic and choose the one that is strong vs the most enemy champions.
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Riftmaker |
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Though backloaded,



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Jak'Sho |
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Unless you're behind,

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Starting Items |
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Dark Seal![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Doran's RingBuild ![]() Doran's ShieldBuild ![]() |
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Early Rush Items |
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Plated SteelcapsRush ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Mercury's Treads![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Bramble VestRush ![]() ![]() ![]() Oblivion OrbRush ![]() ![]() ![]() Rylai's Crystal ScepterALWAYS rush this item if you are ahead and can reliaby fight your lane opponent. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Demonic EmbraceBuild ![]() ![]() ![]() RiftmakerIf none of the above applies to your lane opponent or if you are confident to win without them, build straight into ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Core Items/Most Games |
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Demonic Embrace![]() Spirit Visage![]() |
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Jak'Sho Exclusive |
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Sunfire Aegis![]() ![]() |
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Riftmaker Exclusive |
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Zhonya's Hourglass![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Anti-Heal |
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Morellonomicon![]() ThornmailBuild ![]() |
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Ahead/Offensive Items |
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Rylai's Crystal Scepter![]() Cosmic Drive![]() Nashor's Tooth![]() Mejai's Soulstealer![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Shadowflame![]() |
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Defensive Items |
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Force of Nature![]() Randuin's Omen![]() Frozen Heart![]() Gargoyle Stoneplate![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Anathema's ChainsAnother severely underrated item on Mordekaiser that is almost a must buy against singular enemy carries. This may include any fed ADC, assassin or mage alike. My personal favorite champion to build this item against is ![]() ![]() |
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Item Set |
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If you want these items as a set ingame, you can copy this text and import it into your client:
{"title":"Mordekaiser Item Set","associatedMaps":[12,11],"associatedChampions":[82],"blocks":[{"items":[{"id":"1082","count":1},{"id":"2031","count":1},{"id":"1056","count":1},{"id":"2003","count":1},{"id":"1054","count":1}],"type":"Starting Items"},{"items":[{"id":"1028","count":1},{"id":"1052","count":1},{"id":"1026","count":1},{"id":"1029","count":1},{"id":"1033","count":1},{"id":"1042","count":1}],"type":"Components"},{"items":[{"id":"3047","count":1},{"id":"3111","count":1},{"id":"3076","count":1},{"id":"3916","count":1},{"id":"3116","count":1},{"id":"4637","count":1},{"id":"4633","count":1}],"type":"Early Rush"},{"items":[{"id":"6665","count":1},{"id":"4633","count":1}],"type":"Mythics"},{"items":[{"id":"4637","count":1},{"id":"3065","count":1}],"type":"Core Items"},{"items":[{"id":"3068","count":1}],"type":"Jak'Sho Only"},{"items":[{"id":"3157","count":1}],"type":"Riftmaker Only"},{"items":[{"id":"3165","count":1},{"id":"3075","count":1}],"type":"Grievous Wounds"},{"items":[{"id":"3116","count":1},{"id":"4629","count":1},{"id":"3115","count":1},{"id":"3041","count":1},{"id":"4645","count":1}],"type":"Offensive Items"},{"items":[{"id":"4401","count":1},{"id":"3143","count":1},{"id":"3110","count":1},{"id":"3193","count":1}],"type":"Defensive Items"}]}
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Early Game |
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Fake-Leash |
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Fake-Leashing is the act of not showing on lane before 1:45 when your jungler started bot-side. This way, the enemy team cannot exclude the possibility of your jungler starting top-side. Of course, showing up late requires you to sacrifice some lane-prio. Thus, this should not be done against certain champions that make excellent use of early lane-prio, such as




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Pre-Level-3 |
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Mordekaiser's base stats are terrible and you level your W at level 3, so you get one-shot before that. Pretty much everyone beats you in this stage, so play safe and don't get engaged, you will probably lose half of your HP or more. You can use this stage to poke down your enemy with Q's to prepare for an all-in as soon as you hit level 3, but I recommend just getting as much CS as possible. Even better, if you can poke the enemy AND get CS, do it.
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Cheater-Recall |
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If you are up against a champion that is very weak in the early game or someone that yielded lane-prio for some other reason and lacks waveclear, the Cheater-Recall is an excellent way of "cheating" your way into an early advantage and allowing you to freeze. The execution is quite simple: First, get early lane prio. Obviously, into most match-ups for Mordekaiser, this is quite hard and sometimes even impossible, but just in case you did actually get early lane prio, follow the second step: Slow push the first two waves. This means to first of all push, but to also not have your wave crash into the enemys tower, so that it can stack up as many minions as possible. As soon as the third wave arrives, push it as hard as you can. As your stacked up wave crashes into the enemy's tower, recall. If you didn't miss too many minions, you will be able to afford a




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Levels 3-5 |
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You will still lose against roughly half of all toplaners during these levels, unless you have poked them down enough. If your enemy is not that strong early-game or poked down, try for an all-in. If both is not the case, keep poking and farming from afar. You can go for trades but keep them short. Use the Basic Short Trade in this stage of the game. I have explained the Basic Short Trade in the Mechanics/Combos-Tab.
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Post-6 |
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This is where you get really strong. Your


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Farming under Turret |
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Farming under turret isn't something that can really be taught, it just comes with experience. What you should know, though, is that Mordekaiser sucks at farming under turret and you should try avoiding it at all costs. Alternatives include: Freezing, clearing the wave before it crashes or to just perma-shove but this is not the best option most of the time.
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Consolidating your Lead |
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Freezing |
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Freezing is an insanely effective method of consolidating a lead by starving out your opponent. If a freeze can be pulled off, it's really strong and should be done. Freezing requires 3 prerequisites. These include:
Your ability to freeze
Obviously, a freeze can only be pulled off if you know how and what a freeze even is. If you don't, a freeze is essentially a wave state where you have the waves crash into each other on your side of the lane and to keep the waves there by always having the enemy wave have 3 caster minions more.
You being stronger than your opponent
If your opponent is stronger than you, he will simply "thaw out" the wave by killing your minions and having them crash into your turret. This way the waves will reset and crash in middle of the lane again. If you are stronger than your opponent, you can punish him whenever he tries to touch the wave/cs.
The wave state allowing it
You can only initiate a freeze if the enemy wave is pushing towards you. You can manipulate the wave to push toward you either by crashing multiple waves into the enemy tower with a slow push, or to briefly tank a reset wave in front of the enemy turret so that the waves crash on the opponents side of the lane. This will cause a slow push towards you.
The beauty of a freeze lies mostly in the fact that you are ungankable and if the opponent tries to even get xp, he will be prone to a gank. The only problem with freezing as Mordekaiser is that you will break the freeze yourself if you bully the opponent. So, if you want to bully the opponent, be sure to always all-in him, otherwise you will be left with a thawed out wave. If you kill him, hard shove the wave and back. When you are back to lane, the enemy wave will slow push into you again, allowing you to freeze once more.
Here's a diagram to better understand the wave state that is required for a freeze: (It's a bit older but it still applies)

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Perma-Shove |
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This strategy is pretty simple and essentially consists of this: You hard-shove every wave under the enemy's turret and poke your oppponent with isolated Q's as they are farming the minions you just shoved. Once they are low enough, dive them, preferably using the E-R combo. This strategy has 2 prerequisites:
1. You are ahead/stronger than your opponent
In order to shove the waves, you obviously need to be stronger than your opponent, otherwise they will just kill you.
2. Your opponent does not have anti-poke/sustain or is too tanky
If your opponent can't be poked down low enough and just keeps sustaining your damage, you can't dive him. Similarly, tanky champions take way too long to reach an adequate amount of HP to be dove. These champions include most tanks, such as








You should also note that, when applying this strategy, you don't really need to ward the river bush right next to the lane, because you are ahead enough to simply 1v2 the jungler and toplaner. Rather than that, save your wards for vision on their buffs or generally choke points in their jungle. If your opponent under turret ever just


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Taxing Enemy Jungler |
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If the previous 2 strategies (freezing and perma-shove) don't work, assuming you can't hold and/or initiate a freeze and your opponent can't be poked down under turret, you can simply slow push 2 waves into the enemy turret, then proxy one wave to buy yourself time to take camps from the enemy jungle. Of course, proxying a wave is risky and should only be done when ahead or when you are sure that the enemy jungler is not near. This is extremely crippling to the enemy jungler and will require your enemy laner to give up the 2 waves you just pushed into his turret in order to protect his junglers camps. Obviously, in order to do this you need to be stronger than your lane opponent (in order to push the waves) and the enemy jungler (in order to fight him in case he happens to be there).
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After Killing your Lane Opponent |
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Generally after you kill your opponent, you want the wave to push toward you as you come back to lane and guarantee the enemy toplaner to not be able to fully shove it, so that you can set up a freeze and consolidate your lead. In this case, we would always try to come back to lane at the same time as our opponent, to first of all get as much as possible while they are dead (which ALWAYS includes shoving the wave, and getting platings IF the time allows it) and second of all to not allow them to shove before we arrive, as this would cause the wave to reset. For this, we need to simply


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Objective Macro |
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Whenever there is about a 1 minute timer on






If




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Teamfighting |
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Teamfighting with Mordekaiser is fairly straightforward.
Before the fight
Before anything happens, choose your prefered ult target. I've explained the process in the Ability Usage-Tab.
Engaging
You can be the one to engage, but I would strongly advise against it. Your only "Engage"-Ability is your E, if you can even call it that. Your E, though, is not reliable at all and will most likely not hit more than 2 people. If, though, you can be sure to hit at least 3 people with an E, definitely go for it. If you absolutely need to be the one to engage and are not sure to hit E, chances are you won't be able to ult your prefered target, as you will have to immediately ult someone to not be oneshot.
Fighting
If your team has an engage, just walk to your target and ult. If your target is not already in your melee range, use the E-R Combo. If you don't know, what the E-R Combo is, look it up in the Mechanics/Combos-Tab. If both teams are even, the result of the teamfight depends heavily on you killing your target in Brazil. If you don't, your ult will be somewhat wasted and Mordekaiser without his ultimate is kind of weak. Also, if you do kill your target inside Brazil the fight will turn into a 5v4 in your favor. After leaving Brazil, always try to E the backline if it still exists. They are the only ones that can bring you down. If you hit, try killing the enemy you hooked. If you miss your E or there is no backline, just fight the people in front of you and try surviving for as long as possible.
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Farm, Farm, Farm! |
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Keep up your CS! Even if that means taking some jungle camps. CS is the biggest and most reliable source of Gold, and can sometimes even bring you ahead of someone with many kills. If you are ever moving somewhere, always make sure to take CS there, or get at least 1 kill, otherwise moving there will be wasted. Rule of Thumb is to never go below 6CS per minute.
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Keep up in XP! |
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Arguably even more important than your gold, especially when considering that Mordekaiser has a few level scalings in his kit itself, so make sure you are NEVER behind in levels. The stats a champion gets with one level is roughly equal to one kill or two waves worth of gold. When you are ahead in levels, you feel like a raid boss. Equally, when you are behind, you feel really weak and you just get one-shot.
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Late-Game |
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Mordekaiser's late game is not as strong as it once was, but by no means weak. Not much changes here, Macro-wise, except for making sure to not die and always being at Objectives in time, as they get shred this late into the game. If you're trapping/going for catch plays, always make sure the enemy does not have vision on you.
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Q - Obliterate | Positioning |
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Isolating Q
As you already know, your Q deals 160% damage if it hits only 1 enemy. When fighting near or inside minions, try aiming your Q so that it hits only the enemy champion. Not only will this deal more damage to your enemy, but also will you not push the wave this way. Depending on your game plan, this will be a huge benefit.
IMPORTANT: Movement Prediction
Everytime the enemy dodges your Q, try to make out a pattern of their movement in your mind. All players, subconsciously or not, have a pattern to their dodges (yes, even you). If you get the pattern of a specific enemy down, you will never miss a Q on them again. Examples of a dodge pattern could be always dodging upwards or always to the right, or even knowingly not dodging at all. You will realize when you pay attention to it.
Free Q Hits in Lane
Whenever you see your opponent going for a last hit you can get a free Q hit on them during their attack animation.
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W - Indestructible | Timing |
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Timing in short and long trades
In a long trade/all-in make sure to ALWAYS use your max shield. If not, it's wasted potential and it often makes the difference in early fights. Short trades are different. If you try to go for the max shield in a short trade, chances are you won't even get to use it until the trade is already over. So, try using it as you are still fighting, without laying too much value on getting the max shield. Obviously, you need to make sure to NOT carry it over into a long trade if your shield was too small. Another thing to keep in mind is to only go for short trades if your shield is already at least 1/3 full.
Early to Mid-Game
On Mordekaiser, you will be taking


Late-Game
At this stage in the game, your W's cooldown will be low enough to use it twice in one fight. For this reason, try to W as early as possible in order to be able to use it once more.
Consuming W
If you can know for sure that a fight won't be happening for the next 8-ish seconds, you can consume your W shield for healing.
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E - Death's Grasp | Come Here! |
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Normal Usage
The normal usage of your E is to obviously bring people closer to you so you can beat the **** out of them. It's hitbox is pretty thin and it's cast time is rather slow, making it hard to hit.
Placement
As you might already know, your E works like this: It gets spawned on the ground and a hand swipes from top to bottom. Enemies only get dragged if they are hit by the hand, meaning that the further away they are from the top of your E, the easier it will be for them to dodge it. If you want to increase its chance of hitting, place the top of your E as close to your opponent as possible while also excluding the possiblitly of them escaping towards the top of it.
Note:
The Movement Prediction paragraph from Q - Obliterate (two headers above) also applies here.
The E Self-Peel
Many already know this one but most of the players execute it the wrong way, by having their cursor too far ahead of Mordekaiser when using E. This often leads to the E not even hitting the champion that is chasing them. For those who don't know, as you are running away from someone, you can plant your

Here's how it looks:
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R - Realm of Death | Brazil |
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Usages of Ult
To win the 1v1
The most obvious reason. You steal 10% of your targets stats and gain those stolen stats, effectively becoming 20% stronger than your target. Some champions, such as

Common Misconception:
The description of

Effectively, what this means is that whenever you are fighting an enemy that has some form of stat boost in their ultimate, such as



To remove other champions/To make a X>1 vs. 1 a 1vs1
Also fairly obvious. Better to fight 2 1v1s than to fight a 1v2.
To stop the enemy's retreat
Your target cannot walk outside the bounds of the

To save a teammates life/To peel
When you see the fed Kha'Zix jump onto your ADC, ult him and save your ADC's life.
To deny the enemy jungler from smiting/stealing an objective
If you ult the enemy jungler before the objective's health bar drops to around 2000 HP, you effectively guarantee your team to get said objective, as he can no longer interact with it inside the

Understanding Death Realm Arena spawn position
When you cast


Choosing Ult Target
Choose the target that has the most priorities checked without skipping any from top to bottom.
1st Priority:
Your target has no way to










2nd Priority:
Your target needs to be useful to the enemy team. Your ultimate is essentially wasted if you use it on the 0/17 Nunu that has been rolling it down mid the entire game. Ulting the Diana, for example, who is really good at teamfighting, would be way more effective.
3rd Priority:
You need to be able to reach the target/catch up to them. If the target jumps over a wall or perma kites you, your ultimate is wasted.
4th Priority:
You need to be able to actually kill your target in the


Ult Timing
1st Priority:
When you are on the verge of death. Don't wait any longer, ult NOW!
2nd Priority:
When your target is adequately low. If your target is at full HP at the time of ulting him, chances are you won't be able to kill them in time. Even in a 1v2 situation you should wait before your targets HP is low enough to be able to kill him in the

Fighting inside your Ultimate
If your target is actively fighting you inside the

Nothing to add to the usual fighting, just fight like you would fight outside.
If your target is running from you inside the

Do NOT use your E as your target is running from you, you will miss it 90% of the time. The target is going to expect you to throw your E and run in a wavy line. Instead, just run at them until you're in their face, forcing them to run away from you in a straight line and THEN use your spells. If this is not possible due to getting cc'ed/slowed or them just being fast, still don't use your E first, always use your Q first, then E.
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E-Q Combo vs. Q-E Combo |
Most Mordekaiser players always use the E-Q combo, which is not bad, but the Q-E combo is better in most situations and here's why:
1. The Q-E Combo is faster
Assuming you start walking toward your opponent after you've hit the first spell of your combo, you can start walking after Q'ing because your E does not need you to stand still. In the E-Q combo, after hitting E you would still have to stand still once again because of your Q. Additionally, Your Q ending frames overlap with the beginning frames of your E.
2. The Q-E Combo is easier to land
People do not expect you to throw your E right after your Q, making it easier to hit. When you are chasing someone, they will expect you to use your E first and we all know that hitting your E is practically impossible when they know you will be using E. Your E is harder to hit than Q because of its long cast time and thinner hitbox. If you Q them first, which will more probably hit than E, they will reveal their dodge pattern or maybe not even try dodging anything else afterwards, thinking you do not have E up, because if you did, you would have used it first, making it easier to hit E.
3. It's more satisfying
This one is obviously a more personal reason to use this combo but I just think its more satisfying than the E-Q combo.
When is E-Q better?
If the enemy you are intending to hit is not within your Q range, forcing you to E first in order to be able to hit Q.
Watch the 2 combos in-game and decide for yourself:
Q-E:
E-Q:
Is the opponent running from you in wavy lines?
Everytime they do this it seems like you can't hit any spells, and that's exactly why we won't use any spells. Them running in a wavy line makes them slower, allowing you to catch up to them and AA them until they notice that their strategy isn't working and will start running from you in a straight line again. Now you can hit your spells.
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Basic Short Trade |
In the laning phase, especially early, this combo will come in handy if you only want to Q-E-AA without extending the fight further. It consists of Q'ing the enemy, then using your E behind you so that it pulls the enemy away from you. While your E is still on the ground, autoattack the enemy. This will guarantee the enemy to be pulled away and to not be able to extend the fight. Use this combo vs. early game powerhouses like




You can also choose to auto-attack first:
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The E-R Combo |
If you are fighting a fast champion post-6 that makes it hard to hit E, use the E-R combo to guarantee it to land.
Why does it guarantee the E to land?
Your R has a 0.5 second cast time, during which the target is slowed by 75%. If you immediately R someone after planting your E right below them, it is practially impossible for them to dodge it. This is obviously ineffective vs. champions with dashes.
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R-Flash |
If you


Here's how it looks:
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Q-Flash |
Most will know this already, but you can


Q-Flash Interaction: (Watch the cursor closely)
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Masking R Animation with Q |
"Masking" might not be the most accurate word to describe it but it is applicable to some extent. This mechanic is mostly used against a champion that has a spell that briefly makes him unstoppable or gain a spell shield, such as






Note:
This interaction does not guarantee your opponent to not cancel your R, however it does increase its chance to go through.
Here's how it looks in-game:
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