Malzahar Build Guide by Raawx

Malzahar, The Prophet of the Void

"The land may melt, the sea may swell, the sky may fall... but They will come." - Malzahar

Many men have gone mad beneath the glare of the Shurima sun, but it was during the night's chilling embrace that Malzahar relinquished his sanity. Malzahar was born a seer, blessed with the gift of prophecy. His talent, though unrefined, promised to be one of Runeterra's greatest boons, but destiny plotted him another course; his sensitivity to the roiling tides of fate allowed other, unwelcome things to tug at his subconscious mind. In his dreams, where the veil of separation is thinnest, a sinister thing beckoned. For some time, Malzahar was able to resist its prodding solicitation, but with each passing night the voice grew louder, or perhaps deeper, until he could withstand the call no more.

He ventured into the desert without supplies, drawn by the lure of a specious charm. His destination: a lost civilization to the east, known to ancient texts as Icathia. Few believed such a place ever existed, and those who did were certain that the sands had long since devoured whatever remained. When Malzahar's cracked feet finally failed him, he found himself kneeling at the base of a bizarre crumbling obelisk. Beyond it lay the alien geometry of a ruined city and the giant decaying idols of dark and horrific gods. His eyes, seeing what others cannot, and what none should, were filled with the essence of the Void. His once shifting visions of the future were replaced with the immutable promise of Valoran beset by creatures of the Void. Standing alone, but not alone, amidst the echoing dunes, he noticed the familiar voice escape his own lips in a parched rasp, bearing three words whose weight trembled his knees. League of Legends. Now infused with the power of the void itself, Malzahar set off to the north to seek his fate.

Inroduction

Malzahar is my favorite champion. I fell in love with him the first time I started League of Legends over a year ago. Malzahar is one of the best casters in the game, being able to dish out large amounts of damage while still keeping his distance.

Some say he is overpowered with both a suppress and a silence, and the ability to dish out large amounts of damage on top of it. While that is true, I believe that Malzahar takes a lot of attention and practice to do well with, in addition he needs specific masteries and runes to give him his extra boosts. Typically those who play Malzahar tend to be very good with him for that reason.

Don't be upset if you can't do well with him right away. He is a champion that takes tons of of practice to do well with. Personally, I still need to work on developing my skills with him, every day. Malzahar is a complex champion, yet he is very rewarding when you give him the time for your skills with him to develop.

Pro's + Con's

Pro's:

• Great early game harassment
• Incredible AoE
• Excellent Farmer
• High AP Ratios
• Deals TONS of damage
• Silence + Suppresion
• Kind of a badass..
  

• Squishy
• Difficult to learn
• Mana Intensive
• No escape Mechanism
• Susceptible to CC
• Easily countered by Quicksilver Sash and Banshee's Veil

Runes

When it comes to runes, I never buy runes that don't provide the best for each categories.
For example: I would rather use the Greater Glyph of Ability Power which provides .99 AP, than get use the Greater Seal of Ability Power while provides .59 AP.

Mark's usually provide the best: attack and penetration runes.
Seal's typically provide the best: mana, health and defense runes.
Glyph's often provide the best: ability power, and magic resist runes.

That being said I get the best runes for a caster in each category (in my opinion at least):
Greater Mark of Magic Penetration x 9 - The magic penetration amplifies all of Malzahar's attacks, making him far more dangerous.
Each rune gives .95 magic penetration, which gives us a total of 8.55 magic penetration.
Greater Seal of Replenishment x 9 - The mana regeneration makes early game easier
Each rune gives .41 mana regeneration per 5 seconds, which gives us a total of 3.69 magic regeneration per 5 seconds.
Greater Glyph of Ability Power x 9 - I always choose solid AP over AP per level. In my opinion, Malzahar just need's that early game power to dominate his lane.
Each rune gives .99 ability power, which gives us a total of 8.91 ability power.

Now onto Quintessences...

I use:
Greater Quintessence of Ability Power x 2 - This extra ability power really makes Malzahar a strong presence in whatever lane he chooses.
Each quintessence gives 4.95 ability power, which gives us a total of 9.9 ability power.
Greater Quintessence of Magic Penetration x 1 - The extra magic penetration amplifies all of Malzahar's attacks even more.
Each quintessence gives 1.89 magic penetration, which gives us a total of 1.89 magic penetration.

Alternative:
Greater Quintessence of Regeneration x 1 - The extra mana regeneration makes early game ability spamming just that much easier.
Each quintessence gives 1.25 magic regeneration per 5 seconds, which gives us a total of 1.25 magic regeneration per 5 seconds.

You can if you wish replace the Greater Quintessence of Magic Penetration with Greater Quintessence of Regeneration if you feel that you use more mana early game, and often find yourself depleted OR don't really feel the effects of magic penetration.

Totals:
Ability Power:
Greater Glyph of Ability Power x 9 + Greater Quintessence of Ability Power x 2 = 18.81 AP ~ 19 AP
Magic Penetration:
Greater Glyph of Magic Penetration x 9 + Greater Quintessence of Magic Penetration x 1 = 10.44 Magic Pen. ~ 10 Magic Pen.
Mana Regeneration:
Greater Glyph of Regeneration x 9 = 3.69 Mana Regen. ~ 3.7 Mana Regen.

If you're using Greater Quintessence of Regeneration instead of then here are the totals.

Totals:
Ability Power:
Greater Glyph of Ability Power x 9 + Greater Quintessence of Ability Power x 2 = 18.81 AP ~ 19 AP
Magic Penetration:
Greater Glyph of Magic Penetration x 9 = 8.55 Magic Pen. ~ 8.5 Magic Pen.
Mana Regeneration:
Greater Glyph of Regeneration x 9 + Greater Quintessence of Regeneration x 1 = 4.94 Mana Regen. ~ 4.9 Mana Regen.

Masteries

The masteries I choose for Malzahar make him a very aggressive champion, and give him the ability to do lots of damage early game.

I go 21 0 9, it allows Malzahar to be a lot more of a threat.

Offense

• Summoner's Wrath x 1: Improve's Exhaust, Ignite, Surge, and Ghost. Ignite gets a nice 5 AP + 5 AD bonus when used. If you decide to use Ghost, it also increases the speed bonus to 35% from _.
• Mental Force x 4: Give's Malzahar a nice extra 4 AP, which ends up totaling to about 22 AP at the start of the game.
• Sorcery x 4: Give's Malzahar 4% Cooldown Reduction, which shortens his long cooldown's just a tad.
• Arcane Knowledge x 1: Give's Malzahar 10% Magic Pen., all this Magic Penetration ends up being deadly.
• Havoc x 2: Give's Malzahar an extra 1% damage, making his moves just a tad bit stronger.
• Blast x 4: Give's Malzahar 1 AP per level, more and more AP, making Malzahar quite deadly, even at an early stage.
• Archmage x 4: Give's Malzahar 5% extra AP, the more the merrier.
• Executioner x 1: Give's Malzahar an extra 6% damage when the enemy has below 40% health. Think about it this way; Ignite + Malefic Visions combo on a player with low health becomes just THAT much more deadly.

• Summoner's Insight x 1: Improve's Teleport, Promote, Flash, Clarity, and Clairvoyance. Flash's cooldown is shortened by 15 seconds from _ to _. If you decided to use Teleport, it has its teleport time reduced by one second. Clarity also has the mana restored increased by 20% to_.
• Expanded Mind x 3: Give's Malzahar 12 mana per level, a slightly bigger mana pool makes it a bit easier to cast more spells.
• Meditation x 3: Give's Malzahar 3 mana regeneration per 5 seconds, this combined with the runes gives a nice 6.7/7.9 mana regeneration per 5 seconds.
• Swiftness x 1: Give's Malzahar .5 speed buff, while it isn't much, Malzahar does need all the speed he can get.
• Runic Affinity x 1: Give's [[Malzahar] a 20% buff extension, which is quite nice when combined with the blue buff.
  
  This should clarify my reasoning for going a little bit more aggressive.

Summoner Spells

Recommended:

• Flash: Flash allows Malzahar the ability to get in and get out of situations with ease. He has no method of escape, and flash allows him to make-up for that. If you're doing well enough with Malzahar, you can also use it to land a Malefic Visions or a Nether Grasp, or both on a champion with low healh.
• Ignite: Ignite synthesizes very well with Malzahar's combo. It gives him some extra damage, and is able to be put on an enemy while is using Nether Grasp. When used on a champion with low health in synthesis with Malefic Visions, it is devastating for the enemy.

• Ghost: Ghost gives Malzahar a nice speed boost to escape or catch up to enemies. It helps him to escape and catch up to enemies when need be.
• Teleport: Teleport is typically useful during mid. If you're the kind of person who uses Teleport often enough, then be my guest.
• Clarity: When you're just learning him it can be helpful to make sure you don't run out of mana. But with the 9x Greater Seal of Replenshiment and masteries, it just isn't needed.
• Cleanse: If you're a strong supporter of this, be my guest, but otherwise, I never use it. I do recognize that it can be quite helpful especially because Malzahar does get focused quite a lot.

• Garrison: We're not on Dominion...
• Smite: Why would you even need this?
• Exhaust: Malzahar already has a silence, a suppression, and with Rylai's Crystal Scepter a slow. This move simply isn't necessary.
• Clairvoyance: Malzahar doesn't really have much use of the extra vision, nor is he a support champ, so I find this to be a waste.
• Surge: The extra ability power is nice, but he has no use of the attack speed so why bother?
• Promote: Summon Voidling already gives you minion(s), why would you need another one?
• Heal: Malzahar just wont ever need this. He isn't a support mage.
• Revive: Serves no real purpose to Malzahar.

Abilities

Summon Voidling: After casting 4 spells, Malzahar summons an uncontrollable Voidling to engage enemy units for 21 seconds.


Statistics:
Voidlings have 200 + 50 x lvl Health and 20 + 5 x lvl Damage. They grow after 7 seconds (+50% Damage/Armor), and Frenzy after 14 seconds (+100% Attack Speed).

Summary:
Malzahar's Summon Voidling is one of the most interesting passives in the game. If you don't know how to use it, then it might seem uselesss. But when you do, you can destroy. It is incredibly useful when it comes to farming with your Malefic Visions, as it is attracted to Champions and Minions being hit by Malefic Visions.

In fact, you can spam spells to the point where you can have 2 or more voidlings around you. Double the voidlings, double the damage. Most of the time you end up ignoring Summon Voidling and letting it happen on its own. But, if you really want to, you can intentionally use enough spells to summon one specifically to help you push a tower, or to help you farm a bit.

The passive is incredibly useful, and has often saved me from having to finish the enemy champion off by myself. When used in unison with Malefic Visions and Ignite, you literally can rip your enemies apart.

It's also great for destroying tanks. Early game, some tanks might only have armor or magic resist, the Malefic Visions + Summon Voidling combo does both ability power and attack damage, therefore bypassing armor, and dealing large amounts of damage.

The only thing to be wary of is that it gives away your position in bushes as it can often just stick out, making it tons easier to find you.


Call of the Void: Malzahar opens up two portals to the void. After a short delay, they fire projectiles that deal magic damage and silence enemy champions.

Statistics:
Call of the Void deals 80/135/190/245/300 (+0.8) magic damage and silences enemy champions for 1.4/1.8/2.2/2.6/3 seconds. It costs 80/90/100/110/120 Mana. Call of the Void has 900 Range.

Summary:
Call of the Void is an excellent intiating move. The silence can often prevent them from escaping by using Summoner Spells such as Flash and Ghost, or escape abilties such as Deceive and Distortion. From then it usually is easy to use Malefic Visions, land a Null Zone and then use your ultimate Nether Grasp.

Call of the Void does a great deal of damage, yet also costs a large amount of mana in the process. It provides a nice AoE silence. I get Call of the Void first to harass early game.

Because of Call of the Void's short delay, it's usually tricky to land. If you move forward toward the enemy champion and then retreat while casting the spell, you can sometimes trick them into fall under the spell.

Call of the Void also reveals the area in which it's cast. Occasionally if you're fearing a possible gank while playing mid, you can use the ability to check once in a while. Otherwise, use when you know can hit your enemy.

Call of the Void should be maxed out second.


Null Zone: Malzahar creates a zone of negative energy which damages enemies that stand in it.


Statistics:
Null Zone damages nearby enemies for 4/5/6/7/8% (+0.01%) of their max health each second (damage to Monsters is capped). The ability costs 90/100/110/120/130 Mana, and has as range of 800.

Summary:
Null Zone should not even be used until level 6.

Enemy champions will avoid it when you cast it underneath or nearby them, that being said there is no use in using the ability unless you know you can keep them still. Using a Null Zone then a Nether Grasp is the best way to put Null Zone to use.

Null Zone is not useful in farming until you have either Archangel's Staff, have the blue bluff or are playing late game. Null Zone simply doesn't do enough damage early game to be worth the mana it costs. Do not spam the ability if you decide to build Rod of Ages, as you simply do not have enough ability power to sustain using it to farm.

Null Zone does a remarkable job a taking down tanks late game. Because it does a percentage of a players health, it takes down players building health items such as Warmog's Armor, Frozen Mallet or Rylai's Crystal Scepter with relative ease.

Null Zone is very useful at regaining health when you have Will of the Ancients. As it doesn't to large amounts of damage, simply placing it under a minion wave can cause you to regain large amounts of health with ease.

I, as should you, max out Null Zone last, as it is then it will have the most effect.


Malefic Visions - Malzahar infects his target's mind with cruel visions of their demise, dealing damage each second. If the target dies while afflicted by the visions, they pass on to a nearby enemy unit and Malzahar gains mana. Malzahar's Voidlings are attracted to affected units.

Statistics:
Malefic Visions deals 80/140/200/260/320 (+0.8) magic damage over 4 seconds. If the target dies during this time, the visions pass to a nearby enemy and Malzahar gains 10/14/18/22/26 mana. Malefic Visions costs 60/75/90/105/120 Mana, and has a range of 650.

Summary:
Oh Malefic Visions....How I love you so dearly. Malefic Visions places a damage over time on the enemy champions and minions.

Casting Malefic Visions on enemy minions is your premiere method of farming. Since Malefic Visions gives you mana back, and passes around from minion to minion it makes for an amazing farming ability. Typically you begin auto-attacking minions and then when one is low on health cast Malefic Visions on it and begin your farm.

Always auto-attack the minion that Malefic Visions is attacking. If there is a minion with very low health near a tank minion, or a minion at full health, then be sure to attack the other minion first, allowing it to be easier for Malefic Visions to pass.

Remember that Malzahar's Voidlings can help you push Malefic Visions. Though if you are trying to regain mana, do NOT spam spells to get a Voidling to help push Malefic Visions.

Don't use Malefic Visions against an enemy champion very often. Malefic Visions has a relatively high cooldown early game (around 7 seconds) and when you use it an enemy champion it has no chance to spread. Only use it if an enemy champion moves toward you while you're farming another Malefic Visions through a minion wave.

A great counter to Malzahar's farm is Promote. Promote makes an already tough minion even tougher, making it difficult to spread Malefic Visions from minion to minion. Always be wary of laning against a champion with Promote. Thankfully it isn't seen often on Summoner's Rift.

Malzahar's Malefic Visions should ALWAYS be maxed first. Around level 4/5 at an early level Malefic Visions can do loads of damage and just melt the enemy champions, while also pushing itself through a farm wave.


Nether Grasp - Malzahar channels the essence of the Void to suppress his target and deal damage each second.


Statistics:
Nether Grasp deals 250/400/550 (+1.3) magic damage over 2.5 seconds. Nether Grasp costs 150 Mana, and has a Range of 700.

Summary:
The ultimate move that everybody seems to hate but you. I adore this move. It's always a pleasure to cast this and melt peoples faces off.

You CANNOT move, or cast an abilities while using Nether Grasp. Otherwise Nether Grasp is completely wasted, and you can be vulnerable to attacks.

However you can cast Summoner Spells like Ignite, Heal and Clarity. An exception to this is Flash.

Now what do you do when it comes to towers? There are two times when you can use Nether Grasp under towers. First is when either the enemy champion under the tower is low on health, or is so squishy and you have enough health. The latter option is tricky, and should be only used if there is only ONE enemy champion nearby or under the tower. The second time is typically defensive. If there is a player being hit or going to be hit by a tower, then nows your chance at a free kill. Typically tower damage + Nether Grasp is enough to kill most champions. BUT, if he happens to be extremely tanky, try to land Call of the Void before, then Malefic Visions and then use Nether Grasp while he is still underneath the tower.

Sometimes, if you are being charged at by enemy champions while using Nether Grasp on another enemy champion, sometimes its better to just run. If you are using Nether Grasp when other enemy champions come to gank you, run. Especially character like Rammus and Ahri with moves Puncturing Taunt and Charm] that when they hit you, will not only stop [[Malefic Visions but, get you to begin auto-attacking them, at that point you might even be dead. On occasion, and I really mean on occasion, you can use Nether Grasp defensively to stop an enemy champion from attack your teammate with 25 health left.

Quicksilver's Sash. Oh god no. You must have killed that player enough to go out and buy this scary item. Quicksilver's Sash completely shuts down Nether Grasp. If an enemy champion does take this horrible item, do not, I repeat DO NOT focus them, or hit them with Nether Grasp

Take points in Nether Grasp as soon as you can get it like all other ultimates.

Items

Core Items:

• Rod of Ages: Malzahar requires health and mana early game. [Taking Catalyst the Protector as soon as possible can ensure an easy time of defending mid. Being a tanky caster, Malzahar needs health and ability power, and Rod of Ages does just that. Its passive is also very useful in that you can slowly gain more health and mana.
• Rylai's Crystal Scepter: This item works on Malzahar quite well. Not only does it give him a large amount of ability power, but it also gives him a good deal of health as well. In being a tanky caster, this item is essential to your build. In addition, it helps Malzahar a ton by giving him a way to escape. If you throw down Null Zone when you have Rylai's Crystal Scepter and are being followed, those who step into the Null Zone are automatically slowed, making it far easier for Malzahar to defend himself from faster enemies. The Null Zone + Rylai's Crystal Scepter combo can also be used in the reverse, and slow down enemies he's chasing to make securing a kill just that much easier.
• Rabadon's Deathcap: Tanky casters in particular suffer a lack of Ability Power. Adding Rabadon's Deathcap gives any caster, especially tanky ones, a lot of the power they need to deal significant amounts of damage.

• Will of the Ancients: A lot people find Will of the Ancients to be an accessory item, and that it should only be used on occasion. Malzahar uses his spells often enough that spell vamp on him work to be quite well.I find that it gives Malzahar a lot of sustainability in lane. Null Zone is your chief source of health regeneration. It gives you loads of health when placed underneath a mob wave or a group of enemy champions.
• Zhonya's Hourglass: This item is incredibly useful. Not only does it give a squishy champion like Malzahar extra defense, and ability power, it also has the ability to turn the tide of the battle. The active on Zhonya's Hourglass is incredibly useful, when activated, you stay put, but also don't take any damage. If you time it correctly, you might be able to save yourself from enemies charging onto you in a teamfight.

• Archangel's Staff: When I began playing Malzahar I always used to get this item first. The seemingly infinite amounts of mana I generated were nice, but I wasn't as tanky, nor did I do enough damage. I recommend beginner players to get Archangel's Staff first, then Rod of Ages as you begin to become comfortable with Malzahar's small mana pool.
• Banshee's Veil: I never take this item unless in dire circumstances. If I am facing a team with heavy amounts of abilty power, and I'm being destroyed mid, by the time I have Catalyst the Protector, I get Banshee's Veil. While it vastly reduced your damage output, you have the ability to not only block large amounts of magic damage, but to stop incoming spells while the shield is activated. It can and should help you get an advantage over your AP intensive enemies.

Laning

Fight for mid. Always. You are best in mid, and should always be mid.

Malzahar lanes mid very well against:
Annie, Veigar, Karthus, Graves, Talon, Ryze, Ezreal, Ashe

Malzahar lanes mid decently against:
Swain, Caitlyn, Vayne, Morgana, Lux

Malzahar lanes poorly against:
Kassadin, Brand

This list will be updated as I play against other characters mid.

Early Game:
Buy your Doran's Ring (Or a Sapphire Crystal if you decide to build Archangel's Staff), out a point in Call of the Void and head mid. If you want harass a few times if your opponent is underneath the turret, go right ahead, but be careful. Do not go under 200 mana while harassing.

When you level up to level 2, put a point in Malefic Visions, then target enemy minions to farm. Keep farming. At level 3 take another point in Malefic Visions. Only go back to the spawn unless you have very low health. Play defensively, only really focusing on your farm until you get to level 6. At level 4 take a point in Null Zone. Keep farming and pushing them to the turret, but keep you distance. At level 5 put your point in Malefic Visions making it rather powerful. Then when it comes to level 6, put a point into Nether Grasp. Depending on how much health your enemy has, harass and look for an opportunity to use Nether Grasp.

When you do recall, take a Sapphire Crystal, Boots of Speed, or Blasting Wand depending on how well you're doing. If you're doing really well, and have over 1.6k gold, take a Needlessly Large Rod, and build Rabadon's Deathcap first. With your remaining gold buy Health Potions and head back mid.

Mid Game:
You're now level 7, you should have Sorcerer's Boots. Depending on how well you're doing, you should have Catalyst the Protector, Needlessly Larger Rod and/or Blasting Wand]. At level 7, take a point in [[Call of the Void

At this point your team and the enemies should begin ganking or traveling mid. You need to play it smart, and be aware of your surroundings. Pay attention to mias, and check on other lanes when you can. If you do happen to kill

Late Game:

Beginner Skills

These are just some simple beginner skills that all players should know when using Malzahar. Most of them just display how abilities work.

Malefic Visions + Minion

Malefic Visions Jump

Call of the Void Vision

This section will be updated when I am able to acquire all the proper footage.

Intermediate Skills

These skills are a bit harder to learn, but are not nearly as difficult nor as complex as some other skills you can do with Malzahar

Basic Combo

Minion Tower Push

Tower Defense

This section will be updated when I am able to acquire all the proper footage.

Advanced Skills

Here I'll describe some advanced skills for playing with Malzahar. If you are completely new to Malzahar, I advise you to just skip over this section.

Deadly DoT

Destruction

Flash-Ulting

Skilled Tower Diving

Advanced Tower Defense

This section will be updated when I am able to acquire all the proper footage.

Conclusion

Here are some recent battles with my Malzahar:Note: The battles I lose I still do well in, typically they're a loss due to my teams being bad. While I play well with him, I still have a lot of skills to fine tune, so by no means am I the best Malzahar in the world. Yet I have played him long enough to know some skills and tips.


Thank you for reading my guide. I hope it helped your development toward becoming a professional Malzahar! Please feel free give me any positive feedback, correct any errors, or whatever you think could possibly improve this guide. I'm open to all your opinions.

Updates

m/dd/yyyy - Update Info
1/22/2012 - Guide Published
1/18/2012 - Guide Begun

I will always update this when I notice any errors, inconsistencies, typos, expansions, etc.