Fall in love, fallen angel. See what I did there?

UPDATE 29.09.2015
Hello everyone! She's still one of my favourite champions, currently 61.2% wintate with her over 85 games, and trust me, it would've been around 75% if not for my terrible support performance, duh. Updated builds and masteries.

UPDATE 27.11.2013

I started streaming couple weeks ago. Getting used to Preseason, support changes, etc.
If you have some spare time, definitely check me out, jump onto crazy Russian r*pe train!
Also, I'm always ready to answer any question regarding Morgana. I'm really excited she appeared in a Fnatic vs CLG game recently.

ElefesInUrS channel

UPDATE 08.08.2013
Ironically, I hit Platinum last month, so maybe I'm even somewhat good :P I feel really comfortable with Morgana against gold players and low/mid plats. Added some stuff here, wanna add couple notes about common counter picks.

Please, guys, leave your feedback! In past two days, I got some negative votes and guide score went down from close to 70%, to 56%. This is really important for me, as I know guide is better than it used to be. Maybe you don't like the outlook?

Hi!

I'm just a nub, and I don't have any sexy, cool loking l33t elo digits to show. Yet, it so happened that I joined League a year smth ago, and Morgie was one of the very first champs that I tried. Since then, I've never cheated her (ok, maybe with Alistar, but he's just a cow, come on!), we played lots of crazy normal and ranked games (75% winrate last season around 1300 elo.. yeah, yeah, told you, I suck). When I gringed hundreds of normal games, I was being matched against higher elo players, and still did pretty well both in lane and during later stages.

Well, I just want to ensure you that I know that lady wery vell.


I will add couple more chapters as the time goes, i.e. early level fighter build (Dorans + 18/9/3 that I tried couple times, need to check whether it's even legit or I faced weak opponents.

If you find any typos / poor usage of words / whaveter, please leave a comment or PM. Would appreciate if you don't downvote the guide because I don't use new items or don't post any boobs :P

This is my first guide. I hope that it's somewhat useful, and that some of you will love Morgana as much as I do! Enjoy!
Constructive criticism appreciated <3

22.05.13: deleted couple fancy builds.
Best BO: rush hourglass (prioritize needlessly large rot, if cant afford - boots), sorc boots, rabandons, 3rd item either ROA or abyssal (YES LATE ROA! u already have super safe laning).

[v] Relatively safe to ganks
[v] Beefy
[v] Strong AoE ultimate
[v] Great range of binding (chase/escape)
[v] Purple colored adc rape train: one QW and half hp gone*




[ ] Offensive spells work as a combo: miss one - miss both
[ ] Snare is easy to dodge
[ ] Channeling ultimate (flash :C)
[ ] Pretty weak 1v1 when Ult is on cooldown

* Q is 3 sec snare with 300 + 0.9*ap
W is at least 3 *(85 + 0,2*ap)
If enemy adc gets stuck at the very edge of soil, it's 3 secs of damage, giving 555 + 1,5*AP damage with extra 24 magic pen. With sorc boots, runes and abyssal you're dealing close-to-true damage. With around 500 ap it's 1300 hp. That's more that halp hp pool of any adc any time.

1) Do not lock Q or W before laning phase unless you scout an invade or plan on invading!!! Going W first is safe vs 99% team comps and not that big of a risk since you will level up pretty fast. Thing is, by picking Q as your first skill you leave yourself unable to harass, unless your opponent is straight-up dumb. Since solo lanes are all about cs, zoning and harassing, you leave yourself with quite a disadvantage.

For newer players, default skill sequence is Q W E, don't risk.
For experienced, W Q W E W.

2) 3 points in W, nuff said. Discussed 100 times in every guide.

3) In most matchups I prefer maxing Q before E. Why? Usually, you use E only to protect yourself from CC, silences and some portion of burst. Maxing Q first means both more damage from Q and longer damage from W, and since Morgana has great lane sustain and is pretty safe overall, increasing your damage output usually is better.

I think I prefer E versus Annie and Cassi. Depends on how the game goes.

4) Farm Wraith only if you absoulutely need some extra gold before next recall and you're safe in lane. Or you have blue and can't do much in lane anyways. Other than that, better use mana in lane. It used to be the other way around when jungle creeps were weaker, but right now I don't like the amount of time it takes.

1. AUTOATTACK!

Don't make me sad. Dark binding deals around 70+ damage, each AA is 40+. Every time you right click them, it's like getting extra 60+ AP on your Q. Just do it.

Also, whenever you are laning vs Fizz or Kata, who are considered to be your counters (derp), just KILL THEM! Every hit is free 40+ damage, and at early levels they simply can not do a thing about it! Once they use their 1-2 abilities on you/minions, they are defenceless for long 10 seconds. Don't let them get a single last hit without getting hit by an AA. If you don't do that, you will lose your lane horribly once they reach level 6-8.

2. Outdated: Burn!!! Ignite your opponent at lvl 1-2.

Had some nice chatting regarding that xD Usually people think it's a misclick.

Once you trade some initial damage with your opponent, just ignite him. I put that one point into Summoner's Wraith for a reason. Even after nerf, Ignite's cooldown is pretty short (3,5 min). Usually, you don't get any kills before lelel 6, so Ignite will be ready by that time. If there will be a situation where you would've gotten a kill if Ignite was up, well, most likely, your opponent is just bad. I admit that +5 ap and ad is both nice bonus and not THAT big of a deal, so don't risk it if you don't want.

I stopped doing that after Ignite nerf (longer CD): you ABSOLUTELY NEED it at lvl6. Also, as I got into higher leagues, I noticed that 99% times I lost lane it was due to the jungler pressure. Ignite helps to scare them.

3. Freeze lane

Do not (mass) farm with W. Under certain circumstance, it is good, but as a general rule, use W on the very edge of creep wave only for the sake of harassing. He wants to get some creep? W right in front of him. See he's surrounded with 2-3 creeps? W and watch him cry.

The more minions you hit with each soil, the more lane will be pushed, them more vulnerable you are to ganks. Against certain champs, who have hard time farming under turret, you may consider clearing waves really fast, though.

4. Or... Push lane?

Ealy levels, most midders have hard time farming under turret. Pushing lane quickly is one of the chipest and dumbest tricks to take half hp off your opponent ever. All those Fizzes, Luxes, Katarinas, Oriannas, Anivias, Zeds, etc, etc, don't have such a sttrong lvl1 AOE spell as you. That's why I pick W most games. Just hit 3-5 minions with soil, auto a bit, boom, you're lvl2 while your oppent is lvl1 and can't retailate, because he will miss CS and take agro from creeps. There is no direct counter to that trick, even if jungler visits you straight after red, your lane opponent will be locke under turret and you won't take much dmg 1v1 with jungler.

5. Hellou, sir jungler

If you see your opponent SUDDENLY stopped pushing, and last hits like a school girl, that's a huge tell: jungler is in the bush. Feel free to check with Q, sometimes it will scare them away (I never do that :3 mana too precious). May be tempting to get a kill you your opponent is low on hp, but usually don't risk it. 1 dumb mistake and you will lose lane horribly. As a skillshot based champion, you want to avoid sticky sutiations.

If you see jungler heading your way, just don't panic and don't waste q/e too soon. If they have any gap closer, get ready to Q right after they use it. If some hard CC - keep fingers on Alt + E (don't use E + click, it's too damn slow)

Now that I start flask + ward + pot, jungler pressure concernes me 10 times less.

6. Gankgana.

After level 6, you will be in position to either get a kill in your lane or gank bot. Usually, if you see that you can't quite make anything happen in mid, it's better to tell you team that you'll gank bot in a minute, push lane, recall, get either dorans + tier 2 boots or just Needlessly Large Rot (HUGE damage boost) and just run to help your teammates. I prefer dumping a kill to ADC, but make sure to secure if needed. Ganking combo: When getting close, E either yourself or your carry (whoever is closer to enemies and/or has less hp; ). Q the further target, then either R of flash + R. When channeling, keep moving towards their tower. Even if you miss Q, getting a kill is fairly simple, since you either have speed advantage, or huge damage output.
Flash + R is too risky since they may just flash away, do only if you sure that their flash is down!!! I mean, 2 flashes for the cost of one is great, but you could just sit and farm, right? Also, if they have knockups/silences, i.e. Alistar, Janna, etc., shield yourself!

Don't rush RoA. Just don't.
Hurrrr, I play one of the safest laners in the game, let's make her ever more safe by getting an item that gives HP and mana. WRONG!!! Some time ago, there was a Team EZ guide on Morgana, and I liked it very much. Unfortunately, it's nuked, but I like the fact that 2200 elo player said RoA is mediocre on Morgana. Cause nobody would listen to me without some reference, right? Right?

Decent pick vs Veigar, Tristana, maybe some else. Pretty much against any DFG nuker.
I like this item a lot as a 3rd pick IF enemies arent' stacking magic resistance and there is no AP burst (otherwise Abyssal all day every day)






I used to like this item, but, unfortunately, it's way weaker on Morgana than on true AP carries.
Usually passive's enough. If you run double ap, (Morde/Kennen/Rumble top) then get it. Otherwise, GA or some other defensive item is much-much better for lategame. Yes, I learned it the hard way :C



Hourglass rush every game.

This item was made for Morgana.
If you get super fed, consider getting RDC just for lulz, but you risk throwing the lead.
Strangely enough, usually you can get Needlessly Large Rod in the very first recall with around 1800-1900 gold in bank. If lane is extremely agressive (orianna, brand, kata, cassi, anivia, annie, ), get 2 dorans always. If you do well in lane, but recalled a bit too early (say, got a kill), consider just getting a ring, a potion. It's better to leave 600 gold in bank than delay NLR too much, as it is crucial part of your ganking potential. In tough matchups I get Chalice or Revolver, but it's pretty hard to win lane after that (i.e. you try to farm, your opponent farms pretty much for free and is able to roam).





Either dorans + 2 pots, or flask + ward + pot. Purely preferrential.
Due to my overly agressive playstyle, prefer having ward.



a) dual AP? one of you MUST take it
b) they stack MRES? Void

// The math posted here is severely updated: first they changed the way penetration works (% pen is not as useless if u stacked flat), and 3.13 W change (no more flat magic pen).

I used to prefer Abyssal, but now Void is clear choice. Take Abyssal only if you have some burst champions in team (zed top, etc.).




I LOVED this item last season, but it's damage output has been nerfed significantly. Still provides sustain and spammability, which is nice. Great replacement of WoTA: almost same damage, lesser cooldowns and ability to spam qw to quickly regain health.






Season 2 it was THE worst item on Morgana as she's anything but a single target nuker. But now that the item is totally reworked and damage output of Athenes is close to non-existant... Every stat it gives is good on Morg: huge ap scaling, CDR, so-needed-extra-damage-since-you-have-only-3-offencive-spells. QW, close gap, use item and ult ASAP, if not dead - QW again.
It's only theorycraft, unfortunately, as I just suck with this item. Give it a try!






I barely ever buy it, and I think the habit lost me couple ranked games this season.
Not as good as on nukers, since you don't have much use after you blow your ultimate. Consider getting RoA instead. Or Moonflair, lol.

In teafights you work as either assasin or huge AOE nuke, or initiator. It really depends on teamcomp and situation.

Your full combo is (alt + E) + Flash --> R --> Q + W. Finish with Ignite and another QW. Use Zhonias once you get focused or you're about to lose shield and they have hard CC (i.e. you risk stoppping channel). If you use Hourglass too soon, enemies just escape easily. Use it too late - die right after ult stun goes off.

But you won't be able to randomly jump at people, especially with how many mobility modern champions have. In a perfect world, you hit enemy ad or ap carry with snare, and then go for easy kill with chance of landing ult on 3+ people. In a real situation, wait for couple important cooldowns, say, Ezreal just used Arcane Shift, and NOW you can try flash initiate.

After initial burst, throw snares here and there, protect your adc with black shield (or any teammate who's getting focused). Play as support, pretty much: CC, peel, kite, engage/disengage control. This is one of the reasons I enjoy having at least 20% CDR, that one extra snare or shield can be difference between being aced and having 3 people survive with 200 hp.
________________________________________________

Now, lets talk about some tiny things that can be game changing.

1. How your ultimate interacts with gap (dis)closers

That one is absolutely crucial. Your ultimate keeps channeling when people dash away, if enemy is still in range. What does it mean? Every time you start channeling, come as close to your target as it's possible. I think the most common thing happening is when you have to initiate without snare. Say, you play vs Katarina, and she just used her Shunpo. This is just a huge shiny sign: "KILL ME". But damn, she has flash! What do you do is press R and flash right on top of her. Now just follow exactly where she's heading and watch her pathetic attempt to escape with Flash fail miserably. Sorry brah, ult range is longer. Follow with guaranteed QW ignite autos, c ya.

2. Free stealth detector, umaaaaaaaad Shaco?
Your ultimate icon becomes active every time there's stealthed guy nearby. If you press it, you will see channeling animation, telling you exactly where your opponent is, so it's easy to follow. Extremely useful against Eve and Twitch. It's harded to use against Talon and Shaco, as animation won't tell you exactly where the guy is heading. In case with Talon, you'll see where he was initially, but if he ults, u lose sight, but if you guess his direction, you'll finish him. With Shaco it's just bugged as hell: when he uses both Q and R it's a bit hard to track him.

I'll start from some common "counters", that usually are just skill skill matchups.

Common thing with Talon, Fizz and Katarina: at first two levels, push lane into tower, use autoattacks and W to harass. Abuse the fact they are melee champions who can't push lane back early on. If they try to trade back, they will eat minion agro, and giver you kill chance. If they don't, they'll be forced to eat your poke till lvl3 and miss a few cs under turret. That may bring enemy jungler to you, but realistically, what can he do if his mid laner is stuck under turret? I hear some people say "smart Kara won't get poked", etc., but watch some LCS games, even pro midders struggle A LOT farming with melee champions pre-6. Xpeke and Faker played Fizz and Gragas, and I remember they had 20-30 cs deficite by lvl6 and were only able to come back with some jungler/team plays, if I'm not mistaken.

1) Fizz

Be careful at around lvl2 and 3, he got really huge burst.
If you start with flask, just heal up after trading and keep harassing with autos and W.
If you start dorans, stay away from him, as he'll try to QW you here and there. That's A LOT of dmg. Don't throw Q ever-ever as he can dodge it with Playfil/Trickster easily and keep chasing.
Before 6, just shove lane as much as possible and avoid his allins. If he goes too deep into your creeps, you'll kill him.

After 6, there are couple moments to point out:
- don't use Q before your ultimate: you'll land stun 100% as he can only dodge part if damage with his E, not the stun itself: once you lock Fizz, just QW ignite with a few autos;
- his ultimate slows you and knocks you up a moment later: to trade effectively, you need to use Black Shield only to avoid knock up and re-engage with your own ultimate;
- sometimes it's worth to flash over his ult and use your own combo, that way you'll definitely out-trade him, but beware enemy jungler; it only works if his own flash is down as if you stay on top of fizz he can dodge your ult with flash + q. Only flash or only Q is not enough.

2) Katarina

As morgana: W Q W E W R
Push lane at lvl1-2 A LOT, poke her with W and autos. Kata has HORRIBLE pre-6 laning, abuse it. First, she doesn't have any CC, so even if jungler comes, you're safe enough. Second, she's melee and literally can't do anything to you early on. If you let her get out of laning phase even in items, you failed (i.e. she didnt waste half her income on pots)

Don't use Q unless she has her E on CD, otherwise you only waste mana with 0% hit chance.

By lvl 6 you should have solid CS lead. Consider getting Chalice before Hourglass.

When you have your ult up, use it pretty much every time she uses E agressively: this is guaranteed R QW ignite with kill or she will use flash. If you don't punish agressive usage of Shunpoo, she will out-poke you.

With all the honesty, if you manage to shut down Fizz in lane, Kata is just a warm up.

3) Lux

She is a skillshot based champion, even more so than Morgana, which means that if you're good at predicting her Q and E direction, you'll dodge all the incoming damage. You should never ever get snared. Seriously -.- Regarding her E: whenever you get hit by it, stay away from her auto attack range, it's absolutely crucial.

Pushing lane early on works well against her.

When trading at lvl6, you should save your black shield to avoid getting snared, that way you can keep keep chasing her without risk of eating her full combo (E Q R ignite autos): no snare - no guaranteed ult hit.

I'd say it's positionall matchup: with good reflexes and juking, you'll win lane.

4) Mordekaiser

10 / 10. Prepare vaseline. Under no circumstances will you ever be able to do anything to that guy alone. Just ignore him and farm as much as u can. Consider getting Chalise: Morde pushes all the time, and it's really crucial to be able to farm quicly with spells (helps get cs under turret, and jungle camps, too). Early levels you may be able to deal some damage, but they start 5 pots every time, you'll just run out of mana. Consider taking teleport to make some play at 6. Your roaming and teamfighting is way stronger, but the problem is, you can't leave lane quicky as he's ALWAYS pushing.

5) Talon

*upd After silence was removed, he's absolute trash. No skill required to outplay him, just QW, step away, throw in a few autos, congrats he just lost half hp.*
Tricky lane. You need to read him well and play extremely cautious.
Generall counter play to his kit is:
- avoid getting poked by W
- stay away from his E range
- when you see he is trying hard to get in range to jump onto you, prepare your anu.. no, kidding, prepare alt + e: black shield cancels his silence, therefore you will land gueranteed(!!!) QW with a few autos; if you do that successfully, you'll win trade and potentially kill him
- if you fail to use black shield, don't just run back: stay in your creeeps, auto attack Talon till 1 sec silence is over and try to QW him. If you can't, just W. If you run back after he uses EQW on you, he'll hit you with 1-2 autos and back away to safety. Don't be scared

Playstyle is somewhat close to Sona, I think: decent poke, fairly squishy, with nice utility, and ******edly good ult.

- Ward and use pinks a lot
- Play defensively and reactively
- Don't sleep with using Black Shield (wards and denying vision helps A LOT)
- Play as peeler and, sometimes, 2nd initiator.

Once you get Hourglass, you get HUGE teamfight presence for a support, but! Never rush it. Just don't. I play quite a bit of ADC myself, and, God, I hate all those Lux/Nida/Zyra "supports", building pure damage all game, with not only zero warding, but zero peel, too.

Get sightone and some pinks, get Philo and Lucky Cage, if you think you can afford, as everything they build into is good on Morg. Ask your jungler to get Aegis, as it's probably the only support item that is meh on you, and get Shurelia's instead.

If your adc has any sort of brain, with proper coordination, he should always be able to at least not die.