Build Guide by Lectric Pal

Introduction

So I've played COUNTLESS characters, and I have had some success here and there but none have ever stuck... still I met this hunk of metal. Mordekaiser is like a Burst damage tanky behemoth.. I've seen him played many many times. Some good matches, some bad, so I decided to try him... I'm happy to say that I have found my all time favourite champion!

This build works along side your abilities to just not go down... even when your the main focus in a team fight... your sooo hard to kill unless they ALL focus you... but if that happens your team has free rain to smash their faces on the key board and shred the other team... This is what I call the epic strategy. Basically the true tanks like have taunts, others like have a stun... Mordekaiser has his own version of a taunt. All you have to do is SMASH people with your spells, and generally you wont go down and you will slaughter the other team in the process.. and the best part is, the only tankish part of the build is the FoN! Your damage out put is so high even with only like 400 Ap they just melt... I've seen Morde played in many different ways, some tank, some glass cannon AP spam... but this build has worked INSANELY well for me.

Here's your proof..

The Lore of Mordekaiser

During the most recent winter solstice - when no other night during the year is longer - a being like no other emerged from the forgotten alleyways of Noxus. Standing eight feet tall, and concealed within a razor-sharp armored shell, he came to be known only as Mordekaiser. The nature of what lies beneath his metallic carapace is a popular subject of speculation. Many allege that he is a mortal man with a heart that has hardened to iron. Others insist that he is a dark specimen of the undead. But there are some who whisper warnings that he is merely a foreshadowing of something terrible and unprecedented yet to come. Despite the public conjecture and curiosity, none have discovered what lies beneath his alloyed exterior. What is known is this: Mordekaiser arrived unannounced at the Institute one day and, with a rasp that crept ice up the spines of all within earshot, requested to join the League of Legends.

Upon glimpsing his fearful visage, most keep their distance, fortunately unaware that his touch bears a sinister scourge. Those who stumble within his grasp fall victim to incurable maladies. In fact, Mordeakiser seems mystically attuned to sickness, as if it feeds and comprises part of his chilling essence. he now stalks the slums of Noxus, drawn to the plague-ridden and diseased. However, there is something in his clever tactics, something in his noble stance, and something in the tone of his unearthly commands that has led many to believe that Mordekaiser is more than just a foot soldier. Some see the distinguishing characteristics of a general. While many have learned to accept the evidence of this unsettling possibility, a lingering question keeps them wary at the witching hour: If Mordekaiser is a general, what nightmarish legion lurks at his command?

''The common perception is that the encompassing armor protects him, I fear that - for the fragile time being - it actually protects us.'' - Rozuel Fecirem, Arch Adjudicator, noted in Mordekaiser's eligibility evaluation.

Pros / Cons

Pros of Mordekaiser

-Amazing early game harass and kill power
-Tank like passive
-Huge burst damage even with low amounts of AP
-No mana to worry about because your moves cost health (easily countered with HP Regen)
-Amazing pusher
-Great killstealer with his ult if you wanna just be a jerk like that
-Can solo lane easily in mid
-I think he looks freakin bad ***!

Cons of Mordekaiser

-When fighting characters with endless harass, it can be risky to spam skills
-If you are silenced when your shield is already down, you can die in seconds early game, and especially late game
-Some people find him ugly..
-Great kill stealer... some people get but hurt about that :p

Masteries

The masteries i like to use for Mordekaiser are as follows.. 9/21/0

The main reason I like to focus more on the defensive aspect of Mordekaiser's masteries isn't because I tank with him. But because of three main masteries.


Veteran's Scars - This is an amazing mastery for Morde's early game, this allows you to freely spam your moves even more efficiently early game. It helps to have a higher amount of health when your moves cost health to use.

Tenacity - Here's my favourite mastery, it is just ******ed when paired with your stupid *** passive... think of it this way. When you have the ability to have a shield that absorbs damage, and the more damage the shield takes the faster it fades, but when you have something that makes you take 4% LESS damage, that shield lasts even longer... and that's just a mean thought lol.

Harden Skin - This again works just like Tenacity! Only instead of taking less, you actually block the attacks, making your passive even more amazing! I love this mastery for this beast, it works so well along side Tenacity and your passive... it's crazy!

Runes

It was a tough call for me trying to figure out what runes I should have Mordekaiser use. I was thinking maybe flat armor seals at first but then that got me thinking. Maybe I should just go with the same theme that makes Morde's early game insane as it is.

greater seal of vigor

Marks of Insight - Here comes a huge portion of Morde's damage with this build... If you see someone stacking magic resist... you will eat them so fast they will think it's stupid to have even built those items... And when it comes to people who just keep their base magic resist... they just melt in seconds when you smash your full combo off...

greater seal of vigor Seals of Vigor - Welcome to Mordekaiser's early game best friends! These babies let you spam, and spam, and spam your skills with an relentless assault on their poor health bar. Hell I've even gone mid quite a few times with this behemoth and he does great! Even against someone like

Glyphs of Focus - There has been many times before I started using these that I missed out on kills for one reason and one reason alone. My skills were on cool down... this helps... INSANELY! When you can spam a move that eats people every few seconds... they will die stupidly quick...

Quintessence of Insight - Again I can't stress enough how much magic penetration helps Mordekaiser in all stages of the game... these just add even more! Carries, Assassins, even Tanks will die in seconds if too close to you.

All in all deciding on what runes I wanted took some trial and error but I finally found my favourite set!!

Summoner Spells

Summoner spells is an interesting topic to come to when it comes to Mordekaiser.

Ghost - Ghost is an amazing tool when using Mordekaiser, it can help with chases, ganks, team fights, and even the odd escape. Sometimes I'll even use ghost to scare enemies away from my team mate or a turret, because when you see someone ghosting at you, you expect that they are going to go for the kill, and they will run 90% of the time.

Ignite - For summoner spells you can use anything instead of ghost but if you don't use ignite... GAH your doing somehting wrong. Ignite does huge damage early game and even late game it shreds even tanks because it's TRUE DAMAGE! Now imagine this scenario, You see someone that is at 20% hp, and your ult should kill them, so you go for it... and they get away with 50 hp... or they heal. Now if you had ignite on at the same time as your ult... their health will just disappear in the wind... I've done it many many many times. It's such an amazing combination, and often makes people rage.. hardcore, which means your doing something right :p

Now here's what I meant by it being hard to decide on Summoner Spells for Mordekaiser.

You could use Heal, it allows you too harass even more and not have to worry about dying sometimes... however, along with that comes the possibility that you will get really cocky and probably die more than if you hadn't taken heal because it was on cool down... and then YOU rage instead of taking ghost and not letting them get away.

Another possibility would be something like Exhaust can help your team eat someone it can even help you get first blood very often. But here's my problem with this for Morde, if you exhaust someone, then they RIGHT away exhaust you... what have you accomplished. Where as ghost would give you that little speed advantage possibly allowing you or your team to kill someone. HOWEVER!! This also brings another very very VERY possible spell into play for Morde. Cleanse can help you kill that carry you want to kill, it can make exhaust useless and even save your life, but often times I find myself not needing it because of Mordekaiser's Passive.

The Cruel Spells of Mordekaiser

Iron Man 20/25/30% of the damage dealt from abilities is converted into a temporary shield, absorbing incoming damage. Minimum shield strength is 120 health, and the maximum is 630 health. The shield decay's by 3% every second.


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 damage plus bonus damage. If the target is alone, the attack deals extra damage.
On next hit, Mordekaiser swings his mace with such force that it echoes out, striking up to 3 additional nearby targets, dealing 80/110/140/170/200 (0.4 + ) magic damage.

If the target is alone, 140/192.5/245/297.5/350 ( + ) damage is dealt instead.


Costs 25/32/39/46/53 Health
Range 600

Creeping Death - Unleashes a protective cloud of metal shards to surround an ally, increasing their armor and magic resistance and dealing damage per second to enemies in the cloud.
Unleashes a protective cloud of metal shards to surround an ally for 6 seconds, increasing their armor and magic resistance by 10/15/20/25/30 and dealing 24/38/52/66/80 (+0.2) magic damage per second to nearby enemies.


Costs 26/32/38/44/50 Health
Range 750

Siphon of Destruction - Mordekaiser deals damage to enemies in a cone in front of him. For each unit hit, Mordekaiser's shield absorbs energy.
Mordekaiser damages enemies in a cone in front of him, dealing 65/105/145/185/225 (+0.6) magic damage.

For each unit hit, Mordekaiser's shield absorbs an additional 1/2/3/4/5 health.


Costs 24/36/48/60/72 Health
Range 700

Children of the Grave - Mordekaiser curses an enemy, stealing a percent of their life initially and each second. If the target dies while the spell is active, their soul is enslaved and will follow Mordekaiser for 30 seconds.
Steals 24/29/34 (+0.04)% of target champion's maximum Health (half stolen initially and half over 10 seconds; deals Magic Damage).

If the target dies while cursed, their soul is enslaved and will follow Mordekaiser for 30 seconds. Mordekaiser gains 20% of their ability power and attack damage, and the pet's stats are enhanced.

Pets can be controlled by holding the alt key and using the right mouse button.


No Cost
Range 850

Skill Sequence

When it comes to Morde and a skill sequence, I don't really have much to say there. It's almost ALL completely situational. If someones about to die initiate with your ult, if they are full smash them with your E then your Q. When a team fight breaks out use your W on yourself or a team mate... just play smart! You can do it!!

OH! One important aspect of this build. THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER!!!!!! the INSTANT you use your ult when they are at like 20-15% hp, toss Ignite on them.. I can not tell you how many times I've missed out on a kill because I failed and forgot to use ignite...

Trust me... It helps, its cheap and cruel, but it works! :D

Items

Core Item Build

Force of Nature - Here is your shield, here is your ability to harass endlessly, this is YOUR item!! The instant you get this item, you become insanely difficult to kill! Even though it's a shield, oddly enough it helps you kill people, and even win team fights!

Sorcerer's Shoes - Even a giant metal man thing needs boots, and these are hands down the best boots Mordekaiser can get his claws on. Plus remember how earlier I told you how important Magic Pen was? Well this is a massive input to your proof.

Rylai's Crystal Scepter - This is yet another item that will help you shred any champion down in seconds... imagine this giant metal thing running at you with ghost and his metal shards spinning around him... all you have to do is run the opposite direction.. now imagine all of those shards, all his moves, him even standing beside you slows you down, and you take damage just by being in your presence!

Mejai's Soulstealer - So here comes your main source of AP. This is your snow ball item, I don't care if your doing bad before you get your FoN so you assume you wont need this item. Every single time I'm doing bad, the instant I get my FoN I stop dying and start killing, and by the time you get this item, it becomes useful, if you play this build right and know what your doing, you will almost always without a doubt be above 10 stacks making this item effective.. plus as I said Modrekaiser LOVES his Cool down reduction and the Soulstealer gives you 15% cooldown as long as you remain at 20 stacks.

Haunting Guise - The Haunting Guise is good for multiple things on Morde, it helps with your magic pen (your favourite) plus, you get 200 hp. It suits Mordekaiser's need for HP and damage! So all in all this item is amazing on Mordekaiser.

Abyssal Scepter - Another slightly tanky item for Morde but I don't like this item for that, I get this item for its passive. Every enemy champion in the area has their MR reduced by 30, your not penetrating their magic with this, your lowering it then you pen the remainder, thats awesome!!