Welcome to my guide of Malzahar. Malzahar is one of the best nukers in game. With his insane AP ratios and % hp damage he is capable even nuking tanks down with his combo.

Pros:
Insane damage output
Strong laner/good farmer
Built in mana sustain


Cons:
Ulti locks you in place for 2.5 sec making you vulnerable
Ulti can be countered by QSS or CC
Requires excellent positioning in teamfights
No built in escape

What else is viable?
most of the time you will face AP mid so makes sense to bring MR runes. Flat or scaling depends what you like. Flat gives you that MR right away but in long run scaling gives you more (flat 1.34 scaling 2.7 @18). Breakeven point is level 9 so scaling MR is much better in long run.
can spam some more spells but not as good as armor seals
more armor at the end of the game than flat ones
for better cooldowns and to spam spells more
little better than flat cooldown in long run

21/0/9 and its straight forward here. Improved flash/ignite, increased buff duration from utility tree and everything else goes to extra damage in offensive tree.

Best spells:

Because Malzahar has no cap closer or escape so taking flash is essential. Ignite adds little extra to your nuke and helps to secure kills. Ignite can be used while channeling ulti if your target is in range without canceling channel.

Other:

viable but not as good as flash as flash has more potential getting you out of sticky situations.

Yes! Depending on your playstyle this can be useful. It helps you get back on lane sooner, set up some sneaky ganks, teleport to your teammates needing help and splitpush. Overall very viable choice.

worst summoner spell in game. Malzahar is not that mana hungry to begin with and as the game progresses it becomes less and less useful.

it restores very little hp these days and with almost everyone in mid taking ignite heal from it is not enough to make any difference in most cases.

there are very few champions which can really benefit from revive. Malzahar is not one of them. Because of its high cooldown and it being not that useful, you should consider taking something else.

this is mainly jungler spell. There are some strategies out there with teams running with more than one smite but unless your a jungler or got a really solid gameplan how to benefit from it you will end up with useless spell.

can be handy against certain matchups but highly situational pick.

viable as it can save your life.

viable but ignite suits malzahars kit way better

compared to other possible spells not that useful pick and doesnt really give you that much of a edge.

Starting:

+ 2x

Alternative start:

+ 4x

Early game:

You can add another Doran's Ring if tough lane ( )

Core items:

Usually this is the order you should build your items.
Rabadon's Deathcap is main AP item in game and because of Malzahars good AP ratios it gives you lot of kill potential on lane and while ganking.
Liandry's Torment as second item. This gives you some AP, HP, Mpen and awesome passive that goes well with Malzahars kit (%hp damage).
Rylai's Crystal Scepter this gives you some survivability (500 HP) and some more damage (80 AP). But main point of this item is it's passive that slows enemy. This is valuable for 2 main reasons: 1) it doubles Liandry's Torment %hp damage 2) Malzahar has no blinks, dashes etc. That slow helps you catch up or escape when chased.

Other choices:

You will get load of AP, some CDR and valuable active (which is the only reason to get this item) which helps you nuke down tougher enemies.


Late game item to counter enemies magic resistance.


Very good item if you feel like you are oom often. This gives you the mana regen needed to spam your skills as much as you want without ever running oom. Magic resistance from it helps you take less damage from AP mid your laning against and 20% CDR is also huge. Overall this is very good item.


Helpful against AP mids. Mainly worth getting if you are playing against some nuker mid (eg Veigar) so they cant nuke you. Not the best item for Malzahar tho as it's passives range is bit too small. If you get that and games lasts for a long time, consider selling it later and getting something better.


Load of AP, armor and one of the best item actives in game. When you are playing vs AD mid it is worth rushing it. Vs Zed for example armor from it helps you to ignore some damage and with its active you can ignore his ulti.


Mainly get this for it passive against someone who can heal. For example if enemy has Soraka in team or you are laning against Swain its well worth getting.


This gives you AP, AP aura for your team and some sustain thanks to its spell vamp. In most cases this really isn't that good of a item but if your team is running double AP its worth getting.


If you are heavily focused consider getting this as its passive will revive you once. It has long CD tho so if you are running full build consider replacing this item if its passive is down.

Malzahar is really strong laner and huge bully usually. Only problem with it is that you tend to push your lane when playing malzahar, making you vulnerable for ganks. Add lack of escape skill to it and you start to see problem. Thats why it's important to not push too hard before you got some wards up so you wouldn't get ganked unexpectedly.

After couple of levels and some AP you can farm fast and get mana back from it thanks to Malefic Visions passive. Just cast Malefic Visions on a wave and Call of the Void trought the wave and you should be able to clear waves and bully your opponent. When lane is pushed and your ulti is up look around for oppurtunities for kill. Malzas good damage and 2,5 sec supression is usually enough for succesful gank.

In teamfights you need to position yourself carefully. You need to be close enough to use your spells but keep enough distance between you and enemy so you cant be focused down. Usually it's not wise to pop your ulti immediately as it locks you in place for 2.5 seconds, making you vulnerable. Enemy will just use some CC that cancels your ulti and in bad scenario you end up dead. You should use your other spells first to make damage and when you see its safe use your ultimate. Best if you use it on a carry but in reality its sometimes not possible ant then you should use it on biggest threat target you can reach. Even if its some high hp bruiser your combo should be able to finish him off most of the times.


Careful when using ulti when you see:
Unbreakable Will will just cancel it
Remove Scurvy and gangplank walks away
Black Shield absorbs damage and gives stun immunity. People can just walk away.
if Spell Shield up cancels your ulti
if Shroud of Darkness up cancels your ulti
if shield up cancels your ulti
Quicksilver Sash is something that can be used even while under supression and it cancels your ultimate. If some has Quicksilver Sash or Mercurial Scimitar then make sure that its on cooldown or you will end up just wasting your ultimate.