Mordekaiser Build Guide by Enaio

I would like to thank you for taking your time to look at this guide. I hope you enjoy how I build Mordekaiser and I hope it helps you as much as possible (whether that is improving your gameplay as Mordekaiser or looking for a way to counter the Champion).

Please comment if you have any questions. Although, I do ask you to wait on voting after your comment so that if you have any questions after reading the whole guide, I can answer them with a more in-depth explanation in the comments.


(I have put this thank you up here not only because I do want to thank you for your time, but also because people have ignored the thank you below the chapters of my other guides. Please have the respect to let me answer questions you may have before voting the guide down or up.)

Pros

- No Mana
- Amazing farming ability
- Can control a lane
- High amount of sustain due to Iron Man and Creeping Death
- Can turn team fights around with Children of the Grave

Cons
- No escape abilities
- No crowd control abilities
- Normally focused by champions with crowd control abilities
- Little Utility

This guide is for Mordekaiser, the Master of Metal in mid and top lane. This guide will go over several items I use on him and [items/abilities/etc.] that are used to counter him and how to get around those items.



Here is a review of his current abilities:

Iron Man - Passive
35% of the damage dealt from abilities is converted into a temporary absorption shield. Shield generated is only half as effective against minions and mosnters. Maximum shield strength is 90 + (Current level x 30). The shield decays by 3% per second.

Mace of Spades - Q
Active: On next auto attack, Mordekaiser swings his mace with such force that it echos out, striking up to 3 additional targets, dealing magic damage. If the target is alone, the ability does 65% more damage.

Range: 600
Cooldown: 8 / 7 / 6 / 5 / 4
Cost: 25 / 32 / 39 / 46 / 53 health
Magic Damage: 80 / 110 / 140 / 170 / 200 (+ 40% AP) (+ 100% Bonus AD)
Single Target Magic Damage: 132 / 181.5 / 231 / 280.5 / 330 (+ 66% AP) (+ 165% Bonus AD)


Creeping Death - W
Active: Mordekaiser unleashes a protective cloud of metal shards to surround a near by ally or himself, increasing the target's armor and magic resistances, and dealing magic damage to surrounding enemies for 6 seconds.

Range: 750
Cooldown: 20 / 18 / 16 / 14 / 12
Cost: 26 / 32 / 38 / 44 / 50 health
Magic Damage Per Second: 24 / 38 / 52 / 66 / 80 (+ 20% AP)
Maximum Magic Damage: 144 / 228 / 312 / 396 / 480 (+ 120% AP)
Armor and Magic Resist Bonuses: 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30
Diameter of AoE: 500


Siphon of Destruction - E
Active: Mordekaiser afflicts all enemy targets in a cone in front of him, dealing magic damage.

Range: 700
Cooldown: 6
Cost: 24 / 36 / 48 / 60 / 72 health
Magic Damage: 70 / 115 / 160 / 205 / 250 (+ 60% AP)


Children of the Grave - R, Ult
Active: 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.

Range: 850
Cooldown: 120 / 105 / 90
Cost: None
Initial Magic Damage: 12% / 14.5% / 17% (+ 2% per 100 AP)
Magic Damage Per Second: 1.2% / 1.45% / 1.7% (+ 0.2% per 100 AP)
Total Magic Damage: 24% / 29% / 34% (+ 4% per 100 AP)
Leash Range: 1125

The rune set up all depends on if you are going Burst or Tank Mordekaiser.

Here is my rune set up for all of my mid lane builds:



Rune set up:
Greater Mark of Magic Penetration x 9
Greater Seal of Scaling Ability Power x 9
Greater Glyph of Ability Power x 9
Greater Quintessence of Ability Power x 3

Here is my rune set up for all of my top lane builds:



Rune set up:
Greater Mark of Magic Penetration x 9
Greater Seal of Armor x 9
Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist x 9
Greater Quintessence of Ability Power x 3

Just like the runes, all depends on if you are going Burst or Tank Mordekaiser.

Here is my mastery set up for all of my mid lane builds:



Here is my mastery set up for all of my top lane builds:



Even though I do have a top lane mastery page, I normally stick with the first page for mid or top. The only reason why I would go with the second page is if we don't have any other tanks. Reason for this is because Mordekaiser isn't a 'real' tank because he has no crowd control abilities to keep enemies off of your carries.

Starting Items:

I always go with Boots of Speed and 3 Health Pots. This should give you the sustain you need to keep casting your abilities until you can go back for your first time.


First Back:

This all depends on what you are going for in your full build but one of these three outcomes is what you want on your first back:



This would be used for the Mid Burst build.



This would be used for the AP Mid Tank build.



This would be used for the AD Mid Tank build.

No matter what, you should have 2nd tier boots and Hextech Revolver.

---

Full build for Mid Burst:



or



Choosing to build either Will of the Ancients or Hextech Gunblade all depends on your team make up. If your team is mainly AP than I would build Will of the Ancients but if you are the only source of AP damage, go with Hextech Gunblade.


Situational Items for Mid Burst:



Void Staff - The 35% Magic Penetration is a huge boost in damage along with getting 70 AP. I don't put this in my core build because I would only use it if I was having serious issues with a tank that built a lot of MR. If you are going to build this, I would drop Rylai's Crystal Scepter.

Zhonya's Hourglass - I would only build this if I need armor to protect myself from the AD carry or an AD Brusier. The active is really nice as well when being targeted really hard. If you are going to build this, I would drop Rylai's Crystal Scepter.

Abyssal Mask - With the reduction of the enemy's Magic Resist and the increased AP and MR for yourself, this was a hard item to not put into the main build. Only reason it did not make it into the main build for me was because of Rylai's Crystal Scepter's Chance on hit and Deathfire Grasp CDR and Active. If you are going to build this, I would drop Rylai's Crystal Scepter.

Twin Shadows - Out of the new items from Season 3, this is one of my favorite items. I don't put it in my main build because it is highly situational on Mordekaiser. I would only build this if you need to hunt down the enemy team with it's active because your team is not putting down wards. Also, the MR and Movement speed is helpful. I would drop Rylai's Crystal Scepter if you are going to build this.

---

Full build for Mid AP Off-tank:



or



Choosing to build either Will of the Ancients or Hextech Gunblade all depends on your team make up. If your team is mainly AP than I would build Will of the Ancients but if you are the only source of AP damage, go with Hextech Gunblade.


Situational Items for Mid AP Off-tank:



Quicksilver Sash - I would only build this if you are having issues with Crowd Control. You can build Mercurial Scimitar if you build this but it is not as important as building the rest of your build because it only gives you AD. If you are going to build this, I would drop Liandry's Torment.

Runic Bulwark - Almost a must for champions who build tanky because of the Legion Aura along with it's Health, MR, and Armor. I would only build this if your whole team is having issues with taking damage and you need a little bit of Armor against the enemy ADC. If you are going to build this, I would drop Liandry's Torment.

Guardian Angel - If you are being targeted and having issues staying alive, this is the item for you. If you are going to build this, I would drop Liandry's Torment.

---

Full build for Mid AD Off-tank:



or



Choosing to build either Will of the Ancients or Hextech Gunblade all depends on your team make up. If your team is mainly AP than I would build Will of the Ancients but if you are the only source of AP damage, go with Hextech Gunblade.


Situational Items for Mid AD Off-tank:



Quicksilver Sash - I would only build this if you are having issues with Crowd Control. You can build Mercurial Scimitar if you build this but it is not as important as building the rest of your build because it only gives you AD. If you are going to build this, I would drop Liandry's Torment.

Runic Bulwark - Almost a must for champions who build tanky because of the Legion Aura along with it's Health, MR, and Armor. I would only build this if your whole team is having issues with taking damage and you need a little bit of Armor against the enemy ADC. If you are going to build this, I would drop Liandry's Torment.

Guardian Angel - If you are being targeted and having issues staying alive, this is the item for you. If you are going to build this, I would drop Liandry's Torment.

Frozen Heart - The passive reduction of any enemy's attack speed is really strong if you aren't being targeted and need to help protect your team from the ADC. Also, the CDR and Armor is helpful. The only thing bad for Mordekaiser from this item is the mana but because of everything else on the item, it is actually decent. I would drop Liandry's Torment if you are going to build this.

Randuin's Omen - If you are the target of the enemy ADC and need to bring down his attack speed, I would build this. Also, it's active is really good for helping your team stick with a target if you believe they can get a kill and if your team is in need of running away. If you are going to build this, I would drop Liandry's Torment.

Starting Items:

I always go with Boots of Speed and 3 Health Pots. This should give you the sustain you need to keep casting your abilities until you can go back for your first time.

First Back:

This all depends on what you are going for in your full build but one of these two outcomes is what you want on your first back:



This would be used for the Top AP Tank build.



This would be used for the Top AD Tank build.

No matter what, you should have 2nd tier boots and Hextech Revolver.

---

Full build for Top AP Tank:



or



Choosing to build either Will of the Ancients or Hextech Gunblade all depends on your team make up. If your team is mainly AP than I would build Will of the Ancients but if you are the only source of AP damage, go with Hextech Gunblade.


Situational Items for Top AP Tank:



Quicksilver Sash - I would only build this if you are having issues with Crowd Control. You can build Mercurial Scimitar if you build this but it is not as important as building the rest of your build because it only gives you AD. If you are going to build this, I would drop Twin Shadows.

Guardian Angel - If you are being targeted and having issues staying alive, this is the item for you. If you are going to build this, I would drop Twin Shadows.

Spirit Visage - This was tough to not put in the core build. The only reason it does not is because it does not have a slow to help keep targets from running away. If you are going to build this, I would drop Twin Shadows.

Rylai's Crystal Scepter - Just like Spirit Visage this was tough to not put in the core build. It does have a slow but the reduction is lower than Twin Shadows but if you are going to build this, drop Twin Shadows.

Warmog's Armor - Again, this is tough to not put in the core build. Most tanks build this because of the amount of Health and the passive Health Regen. I would only build this if I need the health to stay up longer in team fights. If you are going to build this, I would drop either Runic Bulwark or Twin Shadows.

---

Full build for Top AD Tank:



or



Choosing to build either Will of the Ancients or Hextech Gunblade all depends on your team make up. If your team is mainly AP than I would build Will of the Ancients but if you are the only source of AP damage, go with Hextech Gunblade.


Situational Items for Top AD Tank:



Quicksilver Sash - I would only build this if you are having issues with Crowd Control. You can build Mercurial Scimitar if you build this but it is not as important as building the rest of your build because it only gives you AD. If you are going to build this, I would drop Runic Bulwark.

Randuin's Omen - If you are the target of the enemy ADC and need to bring down his attack speed, I would build this. Also, it's active is really good for helping your team stick with a target if you believe they can get a kill and if your team is in need of running away. If you are going to build this, I would drop Runic Bulwark.

Frozen Heart - The passive reduction of any enemy's attack speed is really strong if you aren't being targeted and need to help protect your team from the ADC. Also, the CDR and Armor is helpful. The only thing bad for Mordekaiser from this item is the mana but because of everything else on the item, it is actually decent. I would drop Runic Bulwark if you are going to build this.

Spirit Visage - This was tough to not put in the core build. The only reason it does not is because it does not have any armor but with it's passive, it will help you survive in team fights. If you are going to build this, I would drop Runic Bulwark.

Rylai's Crystal Scepter - Just like Spirit Visage this was tough to not put in the core build. It doesn't have any armor but the health and it's chance on hit slow really help keep targets from running away. I would drop Runic Bulwark if building this.
Warmog's Armor - Again, this is tough to not put in the core build. Most tanks build this because of the amount of Health and the passive Health Regen. I would only build this if I need the health to stay up longer in team fights. If you are going to build this, I would drop either Runic Bulwark or Twin Shadows.

I hope this build has helped you with playing Mordekaiser in either Mid or Top lane.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please post a comment. Please DO NOT vote until all your questions are answered and you have no doubt in your mind how you want to vote.

Again thanks for reading and good luck on the battle field.

The 4/6/9 game I was actually going to build my Top lane build but our mid, Kassadin, wanted to switch because he couldn't handle Zed. Ended up dying a few times because he was 600 gold (2 kills) ahead of me. I built: Mercury's Treads, Hextech Revolver, Haunting Guise, Rylai's Crystal Scepter, Amplifying Tome which was going to become Liandry's Torment

The 9/1/5 game I built: Sorcerer's Shoes, Liandry's Torment, Hextech Revolver, and started Rabadon's Deathcap by getting Blasting Wand



The 8/2/7 game I built: Mercury's Treads. Hextech Revolver. Liandry's Torment, Rabadon's Deathcap, Vampiric Scepter which was gonna build into Hextech Gunblade

The 11/2/5 game I built: Mercury's Treads, Hextech Revolver, Liandry's Torment, Rabadon's Deathcap, Twin Shadows, and Vampiric Scepter which was going to be Hextech Gunblade