Hello, new Dominion players! I am, just like you, very new to the game mode. And maybe just like you, I've been finding it very difficult to carry my team to victory, unlike Summoner's Rift. It can be a little sad feeling like you have no impact on a game's outcome, whereas you dominate elsewhere. But do not fret! I have found a way to consistently influence a Dominion game's ebb and flow.

Malzahar bottom (this is the current metagame: laner goes bottom lane with creeps) is, in my opinion, one of the best lane setups possible. Why, you ask?

He pushes insanely hard.
His push can be sustained, over and over...and over again.
He has killing power, and at some point, you will kill the other laner.

Lets go through the formalities, shall we?

I go standard caster rune setup with a little twist. Health regeneration runes are simply my preference, along with the mp5. You can do whatever you want.

...But I strongly encourage trying out my quints. -15% revive time coupled with -10% revive time on masteries stacks up to a whopping -25% revive time! And now, the irresistible question...WHY?! Simply put: unlike Summoner's Rift, you WILL die in Dominion. I don't care how skilled you are. At some point you're going to be putting so much pressure on bottom lane that the other team will have no choice but to send some help. And this is exactly what you want (more on this later). When this happens, you will inevitably eat some sort of C.C. and dear mother of god, your tower is so far away.

TL;DR: You will die, and -revive% will ensure that you get back to your point before the enemy finishes capping it. It also lets you play more.

Standard 9/0/21 caster masteries, making sure to skill into Improved Exhaust and -10% revive time. Nothing too special here.

1. Starting Items
Prospector's Ring, Basic Boots, and 2 HP Pots

Prospector's Item for HP to compensate for quintessence setup. It also offers a buttload of AP and mana regeneration, which keeps your push very sustained. The HP Pots are essential to not having to bluepill. They can also win your lvl 4 fight (basically lvl 1).

2. Early Game Items
Sorceror's Boots, Catalyst, Rod of Ages, Will of The Ancients

Always buy tier 2 boots first. Why is movespeed so good? I don't know, but it is. The magic pen also does wonders for your lane fight presence. Catalyst is ridiculously good (buy +HP crystal first!) because of all the leveling occurring and I can't even count how many times it's won me a lane fight. Rod of Ages makes Malzahar fat, which is important: Malzahar must be able to take some hits (his ultimate is constantly on cooldown if you're playing him right).

Spell vamp on Malzahar keeps you pushing SO HARD. 'Nuff said.

3. Late Game Items
Rylai's Crystal Scepter, Abyssal Scepter, Rabadon's Deathcap

This just goes more into the philosophy of making Malzahar more tanky. The name of the game in Dominion is "being able to take hits while dancing around your tower and disrupting enemy caps". Whew. What a long name. Either way, Malzahar is more of a poke champion and not burst (outside of his ultimate combo), so he needs to be able to keep poking and live to keep poking. Abyssal helps with M.R. and magic pen, while Deathcap just tops off Malz's damage really nicely.

Standard Malzahar skill sequence. I choose Q over W because it meshes very nicely with his E (Malefic Visions).

The basic pushing cast order is:

Cast E on caster minion.
Cast Q on caster minions. Attack cursed caster minion.
Rinse Repeat. Throw E on enemy champion if you're taking too much enemy harass.

There's also his ultimate combo. The only important thing is R'ing someone while they're in your Void Zone. If you can afford to cast E on them before the combo, then by all means, do it.

Exhaust / Promote, all day erryday!

Exhaust lets you battle those AD carries, and also lets you dance around the turret so that you eventually martyr yourself and waste more of their time.

Promote just helps you push really hard. I HIGHLY recommend it! Remember to save it in the beginning until your fat minion has taken some damage, as it heals up that creep to full during promotion.

This is very important to your success in Dominion. As Malzahar, you want to force the other team into 1v2 situations. Why? Because if you're 1v2, then the other portion of the enemy team is 3v4 (yay math!). If you force a 3v4 on top, chances are that even the most unskilled players will win. It's a numbers game, and this is the basis for carrying your team.

Whenever someone tries to defend bottom because they doubt you, just tell them to go top and help your allies there, as you'll be resurrected in no time. This is very true, as I usually die on the enemy's point. The enemy champ will usually try to walk over to my turret to cap it (and they might even neutralize it), but I guarantee they won't claim it for their own team.

Overall, Malzahar is a very solid pick for bottom lane and most people don't know it yet. I'll be very surprised if he isn't FoTM sooner or later!

Some general tips:
-You must be able to land your Q consistently. This is very crucial to your dps and your survival.
-If you are fighting a melee champion, don't even try to kite him. Play like Kog'Maw and stand your ground. Throw a Void Zone on your feet, preferably away from enemy minions, and just try to burst him down before he can you (don't forget to use Exhaust!)

Have fun! Melt some faces. :)