Welcome, friends, to my guide to Mordekaiser, The Master of Metal.




Here is the video of my favourite Mordekaiser's song:

Click here, it is heavy and metal. Enjoy in it while reading. (Youtube link)

PROS Iron Man (passive) makes him very tanky High damage output Able to farm extremely well ( Mace of Spades + Creeping Death + Siphon of Destruction) Able to kill AD carry in a second Being focused in team fights (almost every time gets out alive because of passive, HP regen., spell vamp,...) When being chased he can easily kill most of the enemies by throwing everything He likes heavy metal, my favourite type of music

SPACE

CONS Can be easily killed when teammates are not skilled players Hard to master every single trifle (if not skilled Mordekaiser player, but it is really easy to master him) Requirement to recall often early game ( Siphon of Destruction makes your HP go down on early levels really easy every time you cast it, if you didn't buy Regrowth Pendant with a Health Potion) Banned in ranked games Has to lose some weight

Explanations and examples of some shortcuts used in this chapter (you may see them later too):

• regen. (for example HP regen. from Regrowth Pendant) = regeneration
• AoE (for example Solar Flare) = Area of Effect
• * (for example Thornmail*) = it means it's a possibility, something made in special
  situations.
• AD (for example Infinity Edge) = Attack Damage
• AP (for example Rabadon's Deathcap) = Ability Power
• MR (for example Force of Nature) = Magic Resistance
• HP (for example Warmog's Armor) = Health / Hit Points

Main build

This is the build that I use in most games and usually it doesn't need special items which will be mentioned below in this chapter. I build him just like that because of huge hp regen, some movement speed bonus ( Force of Nature), armor and magic resistance. Ability power is to boost your Siphon of Destruction and Mace of Spades. You want to get AP items earlier and later HP and HP regen. items. That's why you level Siphon of Destruction before Creeping Death. It deals too much damage early game.

Let's talk what items are fine for the beginning with Mordekaiser.

Starting items

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• + x3
• +
• +
• + x5

Doran's Shield
My first item almost every round (sometimes I get boots, when I am playing in mid lane). It gives me health, armor and health regen. so I can stay longer in lane. It is not bad item for mid, but armor is in most cases useless because you will be laning against (almost every time) AP carry. Your Health will be higher than HP if you get boots, but when you buy boots you want to take Durability , greater seal of vitality x9 and Veteran's Scars so it will replace HP that shield is giving you. Health regen. won't be enough because most of AoE spells will not be easy to avoid, for example, Pillar of Flame.

Boots + Health Potion x3
Awesome if playing in mid lane because you can dodge AoE spells easier, for example Null Zone and you get 3 potions for sustain in lane. If you are playing in mid lane, make sure to buy Sorcerer's Shoes immediately after Hextech Revolver which is more important because it gives your hp back when you use one of your abilities.

Regrowth Pendant + Health Potion x1
This item is good for both lanes. Gives you HP back really fast. If you take 3 points in Vigor , you will regain health really fast. That pot is if the enemy you are playing against makes too much damage to you.

Amplifying Tome + Health Potion x1
OK, this item may be good if you go HP runes and masteries, but I don't prefer getting it because you will be weak early. No health regen., no health. I know it can be good, don't downvote guide because I don't like getting amplifying tome first :) Health potion is for surviving longer in your lane. Amplifying Tome can be a good option to harass your enemy, but you don't have movement speed boost and when you get your Siphon of Destruction to level 3 it will make your HP go lower and lower every time you cast it and that HP will not come back so fast. Result: recalling really early. It can be upgraded into Hextech Revolver and than it will return health spent on casting spells.

Cloth Armor + Health Potion x5
This is only in case you are playing against some heavy AD team that can chase you and beat you fast early game. For example, Lee Sin and Gangplank, they can slow you and catch easily. Gangplank will shoot that annoying Parrrley, Lee Sin will slow you with Tempest / Cripple and than use his Sonic Wave / Resonating Strike. When both attack you, it is not so easy to get out (if they aren't unskilled, of course).

Make sure to buy Will of the Ancients and Sorcerer's Shoes when you recall back ( Will of the Ancients will return your health when you are casting your spells and will give you nice AP boost, Sorcerer's Shoes is early game goal because you will need that movement speed and magic penetration combined with Greater Mark of Magic Penetration x9 and Arcane Knowledge ).There is one starting item I didn't mention here because I think it is absurdity to take it. That item is Ruby Crystal. I can't even think off getting it, I'd die looking at Mordekaiser player that bought Ruby Crystal. If it is good, tell me reason in comments below. It is like when some perfume is stinking 50 miles from me. Perfume like that I call Perfail, but never mind, let's switch our minds to mid game goals.



It isn't always the same, you have to buy items depending on their team composition. If there is a player like Malzahar, you will not go the same build. I absolutely don't recommend Cleanse only because there is a Malzahar player in their team. Quicksilver Sash as
an awesome item can easily replace it, it is cheap and you can use it every time his ultimate comes back from cooldown.

Mid game items

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• 
• *
• *
• *

Rylai's Crystal Scepter
It's not just a HP and AP boost. It is one of the best items for Mordekaiser. It makes him
better chaser. It gives him a slow with every ability (I think except Creeping Death). Your team (and you too) will be always happy that you bought this item because you always enter the fight first. That item really makes Mordekaiser the "god" of the round.

Randuin's Omen
Another awesome item for escaping or making squishy enemy champions in teamfights unable to run away. Some people underestimate this item, but trust me, it is better than Sunfire Aegis. It is more expensive, but gives you slow and more armor than Sunfire Aegis does. And as my build would suggest, gives you HP regen. which is main in this build. Maybe it gives less health and doesn't have AoE per second, but still it's better.

Quicksilver Sash
This item is awesome if you are laning against Malzahar player. Gives you magic resist to protect you from other of his spells and its passive gives you Cleanse. I recommend putting "use item 1 - KEY 1" in options (Go to custom game and find it or do it while waiting for minions to spawn in ranked/normal game. Press Escape button, then options.) because it is a lot easier to activate it. The best thing about this item is that it is cheap so you can get it after starting item and boots. Get this item only if you are bad in escaping or if there is something like Nether Grasp or Puncturing Taunt.

Thornmail
This item is against heavy AD champions such as Tryndamere. Gives you massive armor and returns 30% of damage taken (If he hits you 150 (30%(150)= 3*150/10= 45), you return 45 damage
to him.). This item is optional because there won't be Xin Zhao or Tryndamere players every single round.

Zhonya's Hourglass
Another optional item, get it only if you like way bigger damage. It gives you some armor too so you will be still tanky. I think that this item is best for Morgana's ultimate, players
who are fond of attacking and tower diving because you become immortal for 2 seconds. It is active passive like Quicksilver Sash (its passive). Activate it when you get low and you have chance for escape (if team is coming or something like that). It is one of the most offensive items in the game. Honestly, I get it only if I'm crushing enemies, but fo' real.

There are a lot of other awesome mid game items for Mordekaiser, but I am explaining what items are good for my tanky build. I don't know, maybe you like to buy Sunfire Aegis or get
Warmog's Armor earlier. Those aren't bad choices, but I am saying what I think its the best for the Mordekaiser. Anyway, let's talk about late game (final) items.



I will list again items I think are the best for late game and explain each because it is supposed to be detailed guide and I'll try my best to keep it like that. For late game I am focusing that HP regen. because it makes you dominate every game. It is returning your health in fight and combined with baron buff you have tons and tons of HP regen. so try to follow my build ( 3 HP regen. per 5 seconds from Vigor + 25 from Randuin's Omen + 40 from Force of Nature + 30 from Warmog's Armor and gives a result of 98 HP regen. per 5 seconds or 20 (OK, OK, 19.6, I like maths, but it's not necessary in LoL) HP regen. per second.).

Late game (final) items

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• 
• *
• *
• *

Force of Nature
This item gives the biggest MR in the game. It is one of the best choices for Mordekaiser because it gives movement speed (+8%), huge MR boost and HP regen., as my main goal. It can be really good for chasing enemies or getting away from them. For chasing, that movement speed
boost will allow you to hit with Siphon of Destruction to activate Rylai's Crystal Scepter's passive (slow). For running away, gives you that nice MR so you will take less damage from AP spells (for example Twin Fang).

Warmog's Armor
Awesome late game item with more reasons. It gives the most beautiful number of HP in your HP bar and, oh, I'm boring, but I'll say it again: gives that HP regen. which is needed to get that HP back in fights / baron focus. Its passive isn't that bad. You gain bonus HP and HP regen., that's why some people want to get it earlier, but I think damage is more important early in the game (getting HP back from spell vamp too).

Guardian Angel
This item is as Zhonya's Hourglass for players who really like aggression. Well, not only for aggression, this is the best item for champions who usually enter the fight first, Mordekaiser is one of them. It gives you great armor and MR + it revives you when they kill you with 750 HP and, if your team is smart, you will be able to get out alive or start fighting again and regain HP by spell vamp and HP regen. Really great item, get it if you don't like HP regen. tactics.

Rabadon's Deathcap
This is item for every full mage, very offensive and effective. Gives really huge amount of AP
+ gives you 30% bonus AP of your max AP. Get this item if you are totally destroying enemy team. You can get this item instead of getting Warmog's Armor if you want to be very powerful late game, but I think that HP is better late game (if I'm wrong, comment please, I want to know my mistakes so I can fix them). Get it after Rylai's Crystal Scepter if you see that enemies can't do anything or you want to be more powerful with your basic abilities.

Banshee's Veil
As you all know, this item blocks one enemy spell cast on you (and has a low cooldown), gives bonus MR and HP, but one thing is useless: mana... I recommend this item if you are playing, for example, against fed Ahri, Brand, or other hard AP casters. Get it earlier if you have annoying opponents like Veigar with his Event Horizon.

That's it for items. I was writing this chapter 2 days (of course, I'm not writing whole day, 1h- twice a day) and I think it was worth it. I was entertained and I tried to check every possible mistake I have made, read it from top to bottom and I think that it's fine for my 3rd guide. Hope you got how to build Mordekaiser and that I explained everything well.



I will make a little brief, just to make sure you got what I said.

My main build (focused mostly on high damage early game and massive HP, HP regen. and defense stats late in the game):

• - sold later of course
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• 
• 
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Starting items that can be useful:

• 
• + x3
• +
• +
• + x5

Items in special situations:

• - for example, Malzahar
• - for example, Tryndamere
• - aggressive, like to towerdive, for escaping
• - have a smart team to save you after you revive
• - crushing enemy team, like to deal massive damage
• - enemies have annoying AP caster(s) like LeBlanc

I have chosen my favourite (favorite :) I like English language so I constantly write favourite) summoner spells for Mordekaiser:

• 
• 

I will explain why right away:

Ignite
Targets a single champion dealing 50 + (lvl x 20) true damage over 5 seconds. Also reduces the target’s healing and regeneration by 50%.

This spell is awesome for Mordekaiser because combo ignite + Children of the Grave is so powerful. Enemy champion has reduced healing and HP regen. by half and are dealt massive damage each second. If the enemy team has someone with Heal or champions like Soraka, Taric,... you want to chase him because he can be healed to survive with low HP and it is really annoying. In team fights you always want to go directly to AD carry (for example Corki) and kill him. Your team should be able to "clean" rest of enemy team. Throw your Ignite, ultimate, put your defensive spell on yourself ( Creeping Death), slow him with Siphon of Destruction and chase him until he dies (use your Mace of Spades too) and then turn to other high damage dealers in enemy team or the rest of their half dead team. That's how ignite works, it is really awesome for Mordekaiser.

Flash
Teleports your Champion to target nearby location under your mouse cursor.

This spell is awesome sometimes for escaping and sometimes for chasing. If you are escaping try to flash over the wall, obstacle, whatever and escape. If the enemy really wants to kill you and follows you with his own Flash, try to hide in the nearest bush, put your Creeping Death on you, if you have Children of the Grave and Ignite it would be really awesome and throw your Siphon of Destruction, basic attack and immediately throw Mace of Spades. Works well in 50% of cases. In 50% they catch me and kill me (I meant to say when I run with 150- HP and he flashes right after I flashed.).

Other good (or on border from good to bad) choices with Mordekaiser:

• 
  There is a huge fight or a lane is pushed hard so you have to clean it. I sometimes take this spell, but still not worth to change with Ignite / Flash, those are really the best.
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  It is a nice spell for chasing, take it if you like it. You may like it because Mordekaiser doesn't have any disables (until you buy Rylai's Crystal Scepter).
• 
  Awesome chasing / escaping option, but Flash is better in my opinion.
• 
  It can be good to heal a mate if he really needs it, or if you are in trouble. Go into bush, heal and then crush the enemy as it was described when I was talking about Ignite.
• 
  I never took this spell because you aren't in a big need of it, you have an item in game too...
• 
  This is the best one and you must take it, of course

Bad (in my opinion) choices for Mordekaiser:

• 
  Why would you get this, there is way more better options to take, just no.
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  Mordekaiser jungling? Nah!
• 
  Eh, I would take it, but it's not worth changing it for Flash / Ignite for that little AP and attack speed boost. Can't help much. Nope.
• 
  Hahahahahahahaha.
• 
  Yeah, support Mordekaiser. Shield your friend with that Creeping Death, you will be an awesome support!!!

That's it. I described spells, their uses and what I think about them. I involved some humor, but I really think similar to that what I wrote except for Clarity... I am having nice time writing this guide. Proceed to the next chapter :)

Explanations and examples of some shortcuts used in this chapter (you may see them later too):

• quint (for example, Greater Quintessence of Magic Penetration) = quintessence
• pen. (for example, magic pen. from Arcane Knowledge ) = penetration

For runes, I always take magic pen. marks and flat AP quints, glyphs and seals are accommodated to the situation. I will explain now.

Marks

These marks, I think, are the best for Mordekaiser because it gives you nice penetration trough enemy MR. Combined with Arcane Knowledge , they can be really useful and effective. Especially early game (if you're not laning against Galio...).

I found them the best. I don't know which marks are better then these for Mordekaiser.

Seals

Greater Seal of Armor x9 vs greater seal of vitality x9

Armor seals are better for solo top lane against ganking. Hardiness gives 6 armor + 13 from Greater Seal of Armor x9 (1.41 x 9 = 13 (12.69)) + 10 from Doran's Shield + 15 (on 1st level) = 44 armor on first level. That's not bad at all, right? HP per level seals are good for mid lane. These seals combined with Durability give you 16 HP per level. As you level up, your HP is becoming bigger and bigger.

Glyphs

Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist x9 vs Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power x9

Magic resist per level are for solo lane. I pick MR per level because I will probably not lane against AP solo like Kennen. Most of solo top champions are AD champs that have ability which can heal or tanks. So, I don't need that MR early because I won't be ganked so often by AP carry from mid lane. AP per level glyphs are good for both, solo top and mid lanes. As you level up, you get more AP and that's what I really like about it.

Glyphs

Greater Quintessence of Ability Power x3

I always take them because of that big boost to my abilities. It helps so much early game that you can't imagine. All that bonus damage is really awesome. I think these are the best for Mordekaiser, even better than Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed x3.


That's what I had to say about runes, it is short because they explain themselves...

Take a look at this picture:

Explanations and examples of some shortcuts used in this chapter (you may see them later too):

• CDR (for example, Enlightenment ) = Cooldown Reduction
• CD (for example, Mocking Shout, it has its CD) = Cooldown

I will talk about solo top lane runes because this is not AP Mordekaiser build, but I think I will add it too to this guide later on. For masteries I go 9/21/0:

Offense tree

Defense tree

Abilities sometimes annoy you, when you reach level 3 or 5, your Siphon of Destruction is taking off too much HP so you have to recall more often. That's why I recommend getting Will of the Ancients immediately after Doran's Shield and Boots, it gives spell vamp so when you cast your spells on minions (try to hit champions too) you will get your HP back and your spells will deal bonus damage because of that nice AP Will of the Ancients gives. Let's go trough his skills.



Iron Man ( Mordekaiser's passive):
35% of the damage dealt from abilities is converted into a temporary absorption shield. Shield generation is only half as effective against minions and monsters. Maximum shield strength is 90 + (30 × level). The shield decays by 3% per second.

Very tanky passive, makes him survive big amounts of damage. I didn't mention before, but leveling Siphon of Destruction isn't only for high damage output. It is for getting more shield from passive too. Try to get this shield whenever you can. It will block most of damage from all harassing abilities like Parrrley.

Mace of Spades:
On next hit, Mordekaiser swings his mace with such force that it echoes out, striking up to 3 additional nearby targets, dealing magic damage. If the target is alone, the ability deals 65% more damage.

I use this ability mostly for farming. It has nice damage on first level, but I leave it there because I want to focus on ranged damage from Siphon of Destruction and armor + MR from Creeping Death. Take it on level 2 just to farm minions and, of course, try to hit enemy champions (when they come close to enemy caster minions, hit the minion and it will deal some damage to them) and its damage isn't that low if you successfully hit enemy champions from time to time. If you are in the fight, try to hit as much as possible enemy champions, but if you are laning, just farm minions with it or use it for killing enemy champions.

Creeping Death:
Unleashes a protective cloud of metal shards to surround an ally or himself, increasing their armor and magic resistance and dealing magic damage per second to enemies in the cloud for 6 seconds.

This is the main ability for tanky Mordekaiser, but is maxed mid game because I'm focusing more on damage early game. When maxed, it gives 30 armor and MR and hurts enemy champions for a nice amount of damage (when they come close to champion/minion you cast spell on). you can use it for farming too and use it mostly for tower diving and protecting friends in danger (that's why you take Rylai's Crystal Scepter, not only for HP and damage, but for slow too that your mate can get away from fight on low HP).

Siphon of Destruction:
Mordekaiser damages all enemies in a cone in front of him, dealing magic damage.

This ability deals massive damage early game so you want to max it on level 9. Try to constantly hit minions and harass enemy champions with it. When they get in range where you can hit both, minions and them, just throw it and repeat until they get low. You know what to do then, right? If you have ultimate, throw it on him and throw another Siphon of Destruction to ensure the kill. If your ultimate on CD and you Flash isn't, try to hit Siphon of Destruction, shield yourself ( Creeping Death) and chase until another Siphon of Destruction comes back from CD to finish the enemy. If you have Rylai's Crystal Scepter, it will be much easier to chase down your opponent.

Children of the Grave ( Mordekaiser's ultimate):
Mordekaiser deals magic damage to the target and curses it for 10 seconds with a damage-over-time effect. The damage is equal to a percentage of the target's maximum health. Mordekaiser heals himself for the damage done.
In addition, if the target dies while under the effect of the curse, their soul is enslaved and will follow Mordekaiser for 30 seconds. During this time, Mordekaiser gains 20% of their ability power and attack damage. The spirit in turn gains 75% of Mordekaiser's adjusted damage, ability power, and health totals.

This ability is mostly for killing enemy AD carries because you get their soul and make your team win the fight. If you want massive AP during the fight, kill the AP carry with your ultimate because you get % of their AP and AD, but it's better to kill AD carries to switch the fight to win. Always make sure that you don't stop chasing enemy you targeted with your ultimate because he can heal or his support can do it and always throw ignite so you reduce his healing effects by 50%.

That's it for this guide for now, I will add more. This is enough for publishing. I think I will add "AP Mordekaiser" and maybe "Hall of Fame" chapters because I covered teamwork and farming in guide. Hope you enjoyed reading and your Mordekaiser wins will happen more often. This is huge advantage (from other 2 guides which you can find here: Cho gath, Jax (jungling guide)).

I want to say thank you to jhoijhoi for helping me make so huge improve to my guide. Here's her awesome guide: Making A Guide. It helped me in all types of coding (for example, Doran's Ring) and helping me make my guide look like something.

If you enjoyed and this guide was useful and helpful to you, make sure to leave positive comments and +1 in comments. I want to know what you think so I added "Require comment to vote" because a lot of effort was put in this. Maybe I have some inversions I didn't notice. I read every chapter after I wrote it and there is (hopefully) no big mistakes.

Enjoy playing Mordekaiser.


"I like my weapons, how I like my music, heavy and metal!"



Have a nice day.

Horvat4