Completely unplayable match-up. There is no point in the game where you can beat vayne in a straight up 1v1, NOT EVEN in death realm. You will get kited like a dog and if the vayne has at least one brain cell she will not ever let you get close to her and won't let you farm. Not only all this, but also, you can't even itemise vs this bitch, with roughly 2/5 of her damage being true damage (steelcaps are a decent buy nonetheless). The only possible solution to this match-up would be getting babysat by your jungler but you cannot rely on that. I highly recommend banning this champion, not only because of this bad match-up, but also because of vayne ADC, which also completely screws you over.
Kayle
Extremely hard matchup, not because laning vs. her is hard but because she will outscale you and there is very little you can do about it. Like most hyperscalers, you can't harass/bully them without simultaneously pushing the wave, allowing them to farm. That being said, unless the Kayle is brain damaged, you will not kill her pre-6. If you take her to Brazil at level 6 AND hit all your abilities you will kill her, although this is usually not enough to stop Kayle from rampaging post-11 as that is just how her kit works. Kayle is essentially just a ticking time bomb that explodes the second she reaches 16, except the bomb is planted inside your nexus. Rush mercs no matter what. Like with Vayne, i don't recommend banning Kayle, unless she has a high pick rate ATM. Because of her low pick rate, just dodge when they pick Kayle.
Cassiopeia
Super frustrating and painful match-up. Rush mercs no matter what. If you both are on a roughly equal skill level, she will never let you kill her, not even in Brazil. She gets her perma BS speed up from q, which allows her to keep a safe distance from you AND dodge all your spells, seriously, hitting E on her is virtually impossible. And that's not even half of why this match-up is impossible, she gets a ground and a stun in addition to her q. She even outscales you, so there's pretty much no point in the game at which you are genuinely stronger than her (assuming both are even in exp and gold).
Nasus
Very similar to kayle, you can't bully him without pushing the wave, meaning he gets to farm and stack. Go bramble if you're behind (somehow), oblivion if you're even or ahead. Try going for isolated Q's on him that don't hit any minions, although this is more of a general tip it is very important in this lane to NOT push the wave. If you take ignite, like most other champions, he just crumbles in Brazil. If you REALLY fucked up or got camped go steelcaps and farm under turret. I would recommend not ulting him in the late game as he is too hard to kill and might even kill you if you're not insanely ahead.
Fiora
Generally a rather hard match-up, it gets easier with ignite though (as with any lane). Unless she fucks up, you probably don't wanna mess with her too much early. Try keeping the trades short and pretty much just wait until you have bramble steelcaps and you will somewhat beat her in Brazil if you don't mess up. Just don't use e before she parried, she can simply stand on top of it and parry as your e is super slow, most likely stunning you with it, unless you have flash (which is still not worth it). Make sure you deny her vitals as much as you can, as this will be her main source of damage after you get bramble steelcaps. The best way of doing this is standing against a wall as soon as she ults you, preventing her from hitting the vital that is facing the wall, and thus denying her ult healing field. Things are a bit different in the late game, however: you cannot beat her 1v1 at all, unless you're literally 2 items ahead of her. Stick with teamfighting, you will outperform her in teamfights, just make sure not to ult her.
Quinn
Very painful match-up, pre-6 you will have no rights to touch the wave at all, just farm with q and e. Rush steelcaps, add bramble if you really fucked up. If you ever hit e on her post-6, you can just ult and kill her, there is pretty much nothing she can do (granted you built steelcaps). If all else fails you can just play the waiting game, farm under tower and outscale her. Make sure to spam ping your team THE SECOND she leaves lane. She can get to midlane from top within mere seconds. Go ignite if you're confident, but generally, i would recommend taking TP here, as i explained in the summoner spell notes.
Riven
Me having a personal vendetta against this champion doesn't change anything about Riven being a major threat. She gets to dodge your q and e for absolutely free, her kit contains FOUR dashes. Keep trades short early, rush bramble steelcaps and wait for 6. If you hit at least 1 isolated q on her you can somewhat beat her in Brazil (granted you rushed bramble steelcaps and took ignite). You can guarantee a q-hit with flash. You do NOT outscale her, make sure to NOT ult her in teamfights, she can stall so well and maybe even kill you.
Akali
Hard match-up. Play safe until level 3 and just try to poke her while staying out of her q range. Go for short trades level 3-5 to prepare for an all-in level 6. Probably the biggest problem in this match-up, however, is her shroud. If you take her to Brazil with her shroud up, you will not kill her. She can just stall 5 seconds and then run away with her 3 dashes. With that being said, try ulting her if her shroud is on cooldown or if she is already low. I recommend rushing mercs, or at the very least an mr mantle.
Urgot
A rather easy match-up for Mordekaiser. Steelcaps are an amazing buy, bramble if you're falling behind. Poke him with q in the early levels, if you poked him down a good chunk you can go for an all-in level 3 and onward. Ignite is strongly recommended here, as it makes almost all 1v1s a win for you. Like most other match-ups, you just dumpster him in Brazil (granted you took ignite and aren't insanely behind), so there's that to look forward to if pre-6 didn't go too well. Something to note in post-6 fights, is that you should use your shield before you reach approximately 30% hp, as he can kill you with ult if you're lower than 25% hp, EVEN if you have a 500hp shield. If you think you might lose the fight, look for his ult animation and flash behind him to dodge it, this makes a massive difference. In the mid-game he is crazy strong, even if he's several thousand gold behind, seriously, you will be amazed at what damage he can dish out with just a titanic hydra and his passive. Generally though, as long as you're not behind, you should be good.
Garen
Easy match-up, he cannot beat you in an all-in unless you miss every q. That being said, try extending every short trade he tries to go for into an all-in, you will most likely get his flash, 75% of his health bar, or even kill him if he is dumb enough to commit to the all-in. Spam q poke him to deny his passive. Level 6 is almost always a guaranteed kill, again, if you don't miss every q. His best bet will be to wait at the wall and wait to get out of Brazil before you kill him and scurry to his tower. If you're not particularly struggling or behind go straight for your Mythic. Be careful when diving him, and don't sweat using the full shield, as he can dish out quite a bit of damage with q ignite ult and the tower shooting at you, not even mentioning that if he catches you by surprise and q's you before you w, you will die under turret, so when diving him, try timing your w JUST as he leaps onto you with q as to get max value off your shield while not "missing" it. Later into the game, if you're not several thousand gold ahead of him, i wouldn't recommend ulting him (unless you don't have a choice) as he can run from you quite well and even if you catch him in a corner he is quite hard to kill, meaning he might escape with a sliver of health and run, regenerating all of your damage with passive, while you sit in the middle of 4 people. Ignite is very recommended as he will also be taking ignite and it just makes fights very hard to lose.
Darius
Skill match-up. Be careful in the early levels, he will be playing very aggressive and if he does catch you, you're probably dead. Ignite makes this lane way more playable, as long as you hit your stuff. Personally though, i still like to play rather safe in the early levels, even if I took ignite, as this guy can seriously snowball out of control. Poke him a lot in laning phase, but make sure to stay out of his e range so you don't get forced into an early all-in, which will most likely go his way. If you're not crazy ahead, rush bramble, add steelcaps if you fell behind. Post-6 is where you start being able to kill him. His only means of sustaining hp in a fight this early into the game is his q, which will be counteracted by your ignite or bramble if it's not up. If both Darius and Mordekaiser hit everything in Brazil, Mordekasier will win, but hitting your abilities can be hard when he is zooming around with ghost, so make sure you flash to hit a Q you would have otherwise missed. Another thing to note is, that if you're feeling as though a particular 1v1 with him isn't quite going your way, you have the option to flash INSIDE of him the next time he uses q, as to deny him a passive stack, damage and crucial healing. Killing him might become difficult later into the game when he starts stacking resistances, health and shields, and he kind of comes back into the game so unless you don't have a choice it might be wiser to ult a more "available" target.
Shen
This match-ups difficulty heavily depends on what summoner spell he took along with flash. If he took ignite be very careful pre-6, his damage output is already quite high early, but with ignite he can seriously chunk you down as you're rather squishy before your first back and level 6, TP makes him more of a threat to your team but not to you. Post-6, the lane becomes SO MUCH easier, he is just a free kill most of the time you take him to Brazil and he pretty much can't kill you unless you get ganked or fuck up big time. Itemising against shen is rather challenging as his damage split is roughly 50-50 between physical and magic damage. Therefore i recommend building straight into your Mythic and choosing your boots according to the enemy team as a whole. An important thing to note here is, that you can cancel his ult with your ult (although you should still try cancelling it with e, this is more of a tip for when he is ulting but your e is on cooldown), he will still teleport, but only until he hits the wall of your ult. Taking demolish is heavily recommended in this lane as he will be roaming A LOT and every time he does, you will get at least one plating with demolish, maybe two if he doesn't TP back.
Gnar
Annoying and mostly boring match-up where nothing really happens. Rush steelcaps. If he goes for short trades like AA-Q-AA, try extending into an all-in if possible or answer with a q, as if you never retaliate, he can do this until you're low enough for him to just jump onto you and kill you. You will always win a 100% vs 100% all-in if he is dumb enough to go for that, even in mega form. With that being said, look for an opportunity to e and ult him when goes for a q poke or just AA. Generally speaking, you outscale him quite reliably, but this little fucker still has SO much utility and teamfight potential in mega form even if he is 0/10, so try ulting him in teamfights if he hasn't ulted yet. Ignite can help a lot with bringing him down in early fights.
Yorick
Easy match-up. Rush steelcaps, bramble if you're having major difficulties. Harass him level 1 and try to deny him graves, but don't sweat it. Stand back level 2 and try not to get hit by his e. Levels 3-5 i don't recommend messing with this guy too much (granted he didn't majorly fuck up in any way) as he can deal surprisingly huge amounts of damage if he hits you with e and has at least 3 graves/ghouls. Additionally, if he hits you with his w pre-6, you can kiss your flash or the color of your screen goodbye (at least for a few seconds). Post-6 is pretty much why this match-up is so easy. Three of his abilities make him rely on external units/minions during fights, meaning that he can't do much without maiden, ghouls and w. A VERY important thing to note here, is that you shouldn't ult him when his w is up, he can use it to keep you at a safe distance while waiting for Brazil to run out. With that being said, if he hits you with e post-6 and w's you with ghouls attacking you, simply ult and beat the shit out of him. Even if he spawns maiden inside of Brazil, she will only live for 7 seconds, as Brazil kills all units inside when it runs out. You outscale him but never underestimate the power of his split-push. Within a minute he can push all the way to your inhib from t2 tower if no one is guarding him, so always have someone matching him if he's splitting.
Volibear
Quite easy match-up. Rush bramble if behind/even, rush oblivion if ahead.
This guy can be a pain in the ass and dish out so much damage, you have to respect his early game or he will one-shot you in a single combo. You can poke him very easily with q, he won't be able to retaliate, just try to keep a safe distance. Once he is low enough from your poke, go for an all-in. Also, if he ever wastes his e to push the wave, trade him and maybe even kill him if he commits. Level 6 you just beat him in Brazil, even harder with ignite (heavily recommended in this lane, wins you a lot of early fights as well). A good tip post-6 is to ult him just as he calls down his e, as to deny him the shield and the damage, which is pretty decent and it will also allow you to miss one or the other q while still not losing. If he has an insane reaction time he can ult your ult and cancel it so i would recommend masking your ult animation with Q (Look in the Mechanics and Combos Tab in case you are confused). You outscale him super hard and he just stops dealing any meaningful damage to you or your teammates if he isn't super fed, so you somewhat beat him early and late game. He's a decent ult target in team fights.
Aatrox
Easy match-up. Take ignite. Rush bramble no matter what, it completely shuts him down. His only real shot at beating you is in the early game (which you STILL win if you take ignite), so essentially levels 1-5, where no one has any items yet. Respect his damage here, he can really chunk you down if he hits at least 2 of his sweet spots and zone you out of cs if you happen to take a really bad trade, which can somewhat delay the point at which you can fight him, but of course after bramble and level 6 you just auto beat him. He will most likely use his e to hit sweet spots of his q but this is good for you because you can essentially hit q's for free. Always run to the side of his w, NEVER to the top, as this will just guarantee it to pull you and give aatrox a free sweet spot. Additionally, you can ult him just after he W'd you, for some reason this makes the W disappear and you won't get pulled. You outscale him SUPER hard and his damage falls off a lot, so even though winning lane is easy, you don't have to. He's easy to kill in the late game as his biggest means of survivability is his healing, which is counteracted by your bramble and maybe even ignite, so ulting him in team fights is not a bad choice.
Jax
If it weren't for ignite, this match-up would be hard, but ignite makes it easier. Rush steelcaps, bramble if you're behind. Respect his early game, you do not want take a bad trade and be zoned out of cs range. Poke with q, if he jumps onto you and e's, pull him away from you with e. Pre-6, unless he fucks up or you're super confident OR you've poked him down a lot, just farm and play passively and wait for 6, you beat him in Brazil, especially with ignite and steelcaps. In a fight, wait with your e or q until he uses e. If, at this point, you still have e, use it to pull him away, as to not have his e hit you. If you don't have e just q him and walk away from him until his e is over. He doesn't build a lot of health early so ignite is like a gift from god in early fights. Jax is known to be a duelist champion, so ulting him in late game team fights is a rather poor choice, as it can go two ways: Either he will e you, then jump over a wall or just away from you, allowing him to just wait for Brazil to run out and walk away OR he will actually beat you in Brazil, as, at this point, he will probably have divine, bork and wit's end, which make him an insanely powerful duelist. As long as you ult someone else, though, you should be fine and outperform him in teamfights. If he decides to afk-splitpush you can match him easily, he won't be able to dive you and you can clear the waves quite easily.
Renekton
Easy match-up, take ignite, rush bramble steelcaps and he will be crippled, unable to deal meaningful damage or heal against your damage. You beat him in all stages of the game except for levels 2-5, where he can take insanely good trades. Always retaliate when he goes for a short trade. Post-6 you should already have either bramble or steelcaps (or both), so you just auto-beat him. There is pretty much nothing he can do to beat you, except for dodging all of your qs. Feel free to ult him in team fights, although he might be a bit hard to kill. You outscale him hard.
Wukong
Wukong is a decently easy matchup. He's more of a counter against AD champions because of his passive. Ignite is mandatory here, rush steelcaps, bramble if you fell behind. Level 1 he will e you and auto-attack you as much as he can. He will do this until you run away or until he believes that he won't win. With ignite you will win this level 1 fight, not with tp though. You win most early all-ins if you have ignite AND he doesn't. If you don't have ignite or he does, play safe early, wait till level 6 and steelcaps, you beat him at this point, and if you don't, add a bramble vest. Ulting him in team fights is not recommended, he can stall insanely well and sometimes even beats you if you miss enough spells.
Sett
Easy match-up, you win most 1v1s post-6 if you take ignite and kite him well, but watch out pre-6 because if you ever step up in this stage, you will get your skull caved in. Rush steelcaps. You can easily poke him with q and go for an all-in as soon as he is low enough. You beat him in Brazil if you hit most of your Q's. The only point in the game at which he can really beat you are levels 2-5, and you can simply play safe in these levels. Don't ult him in teamfights, you won't be able to kill him through his shield.
Malphite
Easy match-up. Malphite counters AD champions, not AP champions. You beat him at every stage of the game. Rush mercs no matter what, they help a lot vs his q slow and e cripple. Farm and poke until level 3. Start going for big trades level 3 onward, you win these insanely hard, as long as you hit your abilities. Level 6 he is just a free kill as he can't really use his ult to escape and there's basically no way for him to beat you, he simply lacks the dps at that point. In team fights it can sometimes be game-changing to ult him so he cannot ult your team, obviously though make sure he actually has ult up, and if he already ulted, he is pretty much useless in a team fight, so just ult the adc or whatever.
Camille
This match-up is mostly pretty free, ignite makes it basically unloseable if you don't get completely outplayed. Rush steelcaps if you're behind or even, otherwise just go for Frostfire. Pre-level 2 she kind of beats you because of her passive. Level 3 onward you pretty much win every all-in, so go for these and bully her off the minions/poke her, don't sweat it though. Level 6 is insanely free, you could miss 2 q's and still win. A good tip to keep in mind is that you can cancel her hook shot (E) with your E IF timed right, but it's kinda hard to pull off. This is essentially done EITHER by predicting her to use e in the next second OR using your e the VERY moment she shoots out her hooks. In this case though, you will have to aim for the wall at which she aimed so that your e pulls right as she arrives/prepares to jump off. If you manage to pull this off she is just dead on the spot. Her damage skyrockets in the late game so she kinda outscales you but don't let that ever pressure you, you're still more useful than her in team fights, just try not to ult her, as she can just e over a wall and then you're sad.
Ornn
Another tank match-up. This one is a bit different, however. Ornn is an insanely overloaded champ, he pretty much has everything you could ever want, good laning phase, insane tankiness, burst damage, cc for ages, utility, engage, late game, et cetera. The one thing he doesn't have, though, is sustained damage, which you can use to your advantage. You win every all-in, he cannot beat you in an all-in, his best bet is always to get good short trades and get out until his cooldowns are back up. You beat the shit out of him in Brazil. No rush items needed, just go straight into Frostfire. In level 6 fights, try ulting him after he calls his ult and before he gets to knock it back so you pretty much eliminate half of his ult. He can react to your ult animation and W it, so you can try and avoid that by masking your ult animation with Q (Look at the Mechanics and Combos Tab if you don't know what that is). If you can predict that he's gonna e, e him so you cancel it. Ult him in team fights, he is extremely useful with his tons of cc.
Gwen
Easy match-up. Rush mercs if you're behind, build oblivion no matter what. Poke with q in early levels and avoid trading when she has her q stacked up. If you poked her down enough go for all-ins. You win in Brazil as long as you hit most of your stuff. Ignite is mandatory here, it helps a lot vs her healing, which can sometimes be surprisingly high. Always walk inside of her W to fight her or you can't hit her with E or Q. Try walking circles around her and generally have weird/unpredictable movement so she can't hit you with her q true damage. She outscales you and her damage is staggering in the late game so ulting her isn't really recommended in the late game, unless of course you are ahead. Try to get ahead in the laning phase to delay her powerspike and decide the game before that happens.
Irelia
A good Irelia player can make your life hell but this match-up is pretty straight forward. Try Q'ing the minion you think she will q next. Rush bramble, add steelcaps if you're still having difficulties. Play extremely safe level 2, i mean it. Her damage is so disgusting if she hits e and its kinda hard to dodge her e because you're an immobile champion. Poke, poke, poke early and farm safely. Level 6 is where it gets easy. You can simply ult her at full life when she has 0 stacks and murder her. A good trick you can use is to ult her just after she throws her first E so that it gets eliminated. Ignite is mandatory, it allows you to fuck up and still win and make early fights pre-6 very doable. You outscale her and she's also a pretty good ult target, so feel free to do that if there are no better targets.
Cho'Gath
Easy tank match-up. Rush mercs. Keep trades short pre-3. You beat him in all-ins and short trades level 3 and onward. Level 6 you beat him hard but if you ult him at full life he can just stall with q and w and he will most likely get away, so ult him after a short trade when he has 70% hp AT MOST or you likely won't kill him. A good tip is to look for his Q animation, where he stomps the ground, and ult him exactly then. This will guarantee his Q to stay outside Brazil and you essentially wasted 0.75 seconds of his time. Ulting him in team fights is very recommended as the champion itself is such a menace and can zone so well simply with his presence, no matter how behind he is. He's also pretty easy to kill in ult. You kinda outscale him for this reason, not if you don't ult him though.
Sion
Fairly easy match-up. Go straight into your Mythic. There isn't much he can really do to beat you in all-ins or short trades, although he does win short trades pre-3. You dumpster him in Brazil and he can't escape with his ult because he will just crash into the wall, unless he survives long enough to ult after, but generally he isn't good at stalling in Brazil so his only hope is to be tanky enough to survive your damage for 7 seconds. There is a bug (which has existed for way too long, thx riot), which essentially causes him to be immune to your ultimate around 3 seconds AFTER his ult already finished, so if he does ult before you, then make sure to ult him at least 3 seconds after. Post 10 minutes when he starts stacking mr and gets his hp for free from w, he can tank your damage in Brazil and walk out, so make sure to damage him before you ult. He's a decent ult target because he is a good team fighter and really good at zoning, somewhat similar to cho'gath. You outscale him because his damage falls off super hard and if he builds lethality then you and your team can just one-shot him.
Sylas
Easy match-up. Rush oblivion. Pre-6 there aren't really many things to look out for, you win most 1v1s, just make sure to never settle for short trades no matter how badly they went and never let him escape when he comes into your melee range. Post-6 if he actually commits to an all-in and fights you instead of running away, do not ult him until he ulted you, as if you ult him first he will steal 10% of 110% because you have his stats. This is not insanely important but there's no reason not to do it, so might as well take the extra 1% stats. If he is running away from you, just ult him and sacrifice the 1% stats because you still beat him. You outscale him but ulting him late game is not that smart because he can e over a wall just to gain distance OR to dodge your e, he will have zhonyas at this point and his w healing is kinda insane, even with grievous wounds.
Gangplank
This match-up heavily depends on the skill of gangplank. If he is bad then this match-up is pretty free, otherwise you just play safe and never really kill him unless he fucks up, because you can't force a kill with ult, as he can just w it. Pre-3 he has the upper hand with his Q spam, as it's cool down is way lower than yours. You will have to yield prio here, but post-3 you're stronger than him. You win pretty much every all-in in lane so if he ever steps up to you in order to get his passive onto you, E him and fight him, just make sure to ignite early into the fight, so that he cannot heal up with W. If you ever catch him using W in lane for healing, literally just deadass ult him and kill him. Rush steelcaps no matter what. Don't ult him if he has W up. You do outscale him though.
Mordekaiser
Stop playing blind pick
Kled
Decently difficult match-up that gets a lot easier with ignite. Rush steelcaps. His early levels are insanely strong, he just has so much damage and infinite sticking potential. Try not to take any bad trades early or he will use it to zone you out of any cs and the second you walk up he can just one-shot you. You can take short trades IF you keep them short. You beat him in Brazil but you have to hit your spells. ALWAYS make sure to mask ult with your Q animation, so that he can't use his ult to cancel yours (Look at the Combos and Mechanics Tab in case you are confused).
You outscale him hard. Hard to kill but decent ult target in the late game.
Lee Sin
Like most other early-game fighters, rush steelcaps, add bramble if behind. Ignite is mandatory here, it helps against his healing and wins you a lot of early fights. Poke with q while standing behind minions, he can't retaliate with q like this. You beat him in Brazil but actually killing him is a different story because he can simply kick you away if he isn't feeling a particular fight, so you can pretty much only kill him if he wants to die or is desperate to kill you. You do out-scale him though, so not being able to kill him isn't the biggest problem. If he has kick up, don't ult him in late game team fights or he will just kick you and run, OR just jump a wall with w.
Yone
Hard match-up. Rush steelcaps, add bramble if behind. All he will do is spam q on minions, then e, q3 and spam abilities on you, which will result in a good trade for him because of the damage echo. He will just do this over and over again until he forces you to back or kills you. The nature of his e completely counters your kit, which promotes extended fights, but he can just recast e and skedaddle back to his body the second it starts looking good for you. That being said, if he e's post 6 you can trade him while running toward his body and the second he returns you ult him. This works if you already have steelcaps because you will be sacrificing a good portion of your hp while running toward his body with him smacking you in his spirit form. His E and your Ult have a somewhat weird interaction: If he casts E and you ult him while he is in his spirit form, he will not be able to return to his body and will remain in his E for the rest of your ult, even if it runs out. This means that, if you are ahead or confident enough in winning vs. his spirit form, you can ult him as he is E'ing to short trade you. Again, only do this if he is low or if you are ahead, since he will have a ton of movement speed to dodge your abilities PLUS if you don't kill him in time, he will echo 30% of the damage he dealt to you in the last 7 seconds. You can punish him if he comes too close without e and get a good trade but that's really all you can do pre-6. Don't ult him late game except if he has nothing up. You don't really outscale him, either.
Tryndamere
Hard match-up. Rush steelcaps and bramble. Ignite is recommended. Keep trades short early. All you have to do in this lane is farm and, most importantly, SURVIVE, so don't go for risky last hits. If you ever let this guy snowball it will haunt you for the rest of the match. If you ever happen to catch him without his e you can get a decent trade but don't extend it too much. Don't ever all-in him post 6 unless you're super ahead. The most realistic outcome of this lane is that you will have 20 to 30 less cs than him and are just trying to outscale him, which is what you should do. You can outperform him in teamfights and with randuins steelcaps he won't be able to dive you in a late game split push situation anyway, so this is your best bet.
Dr. Mundo
Mundo is a fairly easy matchup if played correctly. Ignite is mandatory here, rush oblivion into mercs pretty much all of the time. Always stand behind your minions so that he cannot hit you with his q. If he walks up and farms in melee range, q and e him and always make sure to destroy his canister if possible. You win extended fights with ignite. Post-6 you have to proc his passive with e before ulting him or it will get blocked and then you will be sad. You outscale him so just chill in lane, you don't have to force anything and even if he does, you will most likely win anyway. Ulting him in team fights may not be the best choice unless he used his ult already or if he's the only viable option as his ultimate allows him to stall super well.
Tahm Kench
Very similar to Mundo, just chill behind minions and there isn't really much he can do. If he farms in melee range spam poke him with q and e as he simply cannot retaliate. The only point in the game where you actually have to be careful is when it's early into the game and the wave is on his side. One single misstep can mean certain death here so watch out and make sure you're capable of fighting him when you're this far extended, otherwise he can simply perma slow you and kill you. This is also the reason why ignite is a must in this lane, as it just fixes this problem. Post-6 just avoid taking quick trades and always extend into an all-in. You beat him if you don't miss too many Q's with ult ignite. You outscale him super hard but only ult this guy if there's no better option in teamfights as he's just way too hard to kill within 7 seconds.
Illaoi
Mordekaiser's easiest matchup in my opinion, as you just completely negate her kit with your ult. You remove her e spirit and on average around 4 tentacles that would have otherwise beaten the shit out of you if it wasn't for your ult. Even though this matchup is unloseable, I would still recommend taking ignite as it lets you get a few more kills than usual and in case it somehow gets close you still have ignite as a lifeline so to speak. You even beat her pre 6 with ignite so she doesn't even have a chance to get a lead then. Post-6 you can just braindead run into her until she ults and you just ult after her, just make sure to not ult her during the animation of her ult as she is unstoppable for a split second. Ulting her in teamfights can be very useful, just make sure she already used ult so she doesn't spank you in Brazil.
Teemo
Skill matchup, don't get poked down too much pre 6. Rush mercs. If you ever catch him brainlessly running after you and shooting auto attacks, turn and e q him, get a good trade and get out. Most Teemos are crazy about dodging your spells and you can use this as an advantage because he will be running in a wavy line, thus running from you slower and you don't have to hit your spells, just auto attack him until he realizes that his strategy doesn't work, he will then run in a straight line and you can hit your spells. Post-6 you can just braindead ult him and run him the fuck down as there won't be any shrooms to slow you. Ulting him in late-game teamfights might not be the best choice, as at this point he is gonna be super fast for no reason and he can just run from you super well.
Jayce
Highly dependent on Jayce's skill level. If he's good he's gonna make your life hell. If he's bad then it's still not easy but definitely not as bad.
Rush steelcaps. You obviously win all-ins but he won't allow you to all in him. Instead, he will spam short trades which consist of him spamming his abilities, then just kicking you away at the end, which then procs his phase rush and he's gone in the blink of an eye. Ten seconds later he will do the same thing, rinse and repeat until you have to recall. The worst thing is that you just cannot do anything about this and hitting e as he is phase rushing away is just impossible. It gets easier post-6 because now you can extend the trade but even here it's hard to kill him because of how much self-peel he has and, of course, phase rush. The best thing to try is to e as he is trading you, not after, so that he ends up behind you and cannot effectively kick you away, but even this e is hard to pull off as jayce players will know that you will do this and just run to the side of it. Take ignite. Don't ult him late game, he will just waste your time and run.
Trundle
One word: Poke. Spam Q him before doing ANYTHING else. He will always beat you in a 100-0 fight, even if you hit your abilities, so you need to make him start with less health than you. Rush steelcaps, then bramble or oblivion depending on whether you are behind or ahead. Take ignite. Don't brainlessly stand in his face, always kite him unless you're sure that you will beat him. Do not ever ult him in the late game as he won't be stuck with you, you will be stuck with him. Seriously though, his dueling potential in the late game is one of the best there is, so unless you're not crazy ahead, try ulting someone else.
Kennen
This matchup plays similarly to Teemo. Rush mercs. Try standing behind minions to not have him hit you with q. You can bait him into running towards you by moving away from him, it sounds weird but it's a subconscious thing. This way you can often hit an e on him and maybe extend into an all-in. Generally though, if the Kennen is good he will never let you kill him because unlike teemo he has a spell that gives him 100% move speed and it's extremely hard to hit e on him, not even mentioning phase rush, which he will probably also take. Also he has passive so even if you get close to him, which is already unlikely, he will stun you and walk away. Ult him in teamfights because he will mess up your team otherwise.
Yasuo
Pretty easy match-up, poke and play safe until level 3, at which point you will start beating him, in all-ins that is. Ignite is mandatory here. Rush steelcaps no matter what. He has his E to dodge your Q's, but he can only use this once in Brazil and missing one Q usually doesn't lose you the fight. Post-3 items he gets crazy strong and low-key beats you so don't ult him then unless you're ahead.
Graves
Easy match-up. Take ignite and rush steelcaps. Spam Q him in lane while staying behind minions so he can't AA you. If he ever E's your Q, E him and murder him. Also, if you ever happen to hit E otherwise, kill him, with ignite and steelcaps you obliterate him in every all-in post level 3. You should look towards getting a lead early as he will outscale you otherwise. With that noted, don't ult him lategame because his damage is kinda crazy then, unless of course if you're ahead.
Akshan
Easy match-up. Take ignite, rush steelcaps. Every Akshan I have ever faced is very cocky and agressive, so hitting your abilities is often easier and he will somewhat serve himself to you by walking into your range if that makes sense. Pre-6, unless he actively walks into you, just Q him whenever the opportunity presents itself, or short trade him, but don't take free poke from him as he can quickly kill you if you are low enough. If at any point in the game, you manage to catch him, try to walk as close to him as possible, so that his E gets cancelled by you. If you hit E on him post-6, AA-Q-R him and watch him vainly E away, just to hit Brazil wall and still be murdered by you. Lategame he is still a very good ult-target.
Singed
Singed is a weird champion, but he can't do much against you. Rush mercs if you're having difficulties. You can just perma Q poke him and even if he engages on you, you will win the extended fight with ignite. He will know this and usually just trade you for 3 seconds and then E you away. If you can predict when he is gonna E, you can E him right before so that you can damage him a bit more before he gets away. Generally, you can't really expect to kill him before laning phase ends, so taking conditioning/overgrowth is highly recommended. Don't try to punish him when he is proxying, unless your jungler is helping because you won't be able to kill him on your own and you will just end up losing cs. Don't ult him later into the game as he will just stall.
Poppy
She can't do much against you. You pretty much beat her in every aspect. Just make sure to have anti-heal because she will get Divine and her healing will be insane otherwise. Steelcaps are a good buy if you're having difficulties. Pre-3 you should be careful because her early damage is pretty high, but after that you're free to do whatever you want, just try to not stand next to a wall and do your best to destroy her passive shield when possible. Don't ult her later into the game, she's just too tanky to kill at that point. Considering that her lategame is not good anyway, this is not a problem.
Gragas
Mostly boring lane where no one really kills each other. Rush mercs and oblivion. Generally speaking, you win every all-in, but whenever Gragas sees that a certain fight isn't quite going his way, he will use either Phase Rush, E or R to escape. This way he can also escape in Brazil most of the time sadly. It is to be assumed that you won't ever kill him, so make sure to take Conditioning and Overgrowth. In an all-in situation, make sure to ult him right after he rolls his Q so you make it disappear.
Warwick
Rush steelcaps and oblivion or bramble if you are behind. You can never win an all-in vs this guy, so you need to poke him down before you even try to kill him. Thankfully, poking him is pretty easy. He needs to be at most 40% hp for you to be able to kill him because Warwick top players usually take Barrier, which can sadly not be counteracted by your ignite. If he ever engages you before this 40% threshold, do not fight him, just pull him away from you with E. If he does not have barrier up, the threshold goes up to 60% HP. Don't try ulting him later into the game, he will most likely beat you.
Vladimir
Even and boring match-up. He won't exactly beat you in lane but he doesn't need to because he outscales you. Rush oblivion and take ignite. He will just chill and farm and occasionally poke you with an empowered Q. Don't eat too many of these, they hurt. If he ever walks into your range, Q-E him and if you hit you can AA-R and kill him but he most likely won't let you do that. There aren't really any tricks in this lane that you make use of, although through experience I can tell you that Vladimirs usually play very cocky and aggressive for some reason. You can make use of this because you are stronger than him early. You should try to ult him in every single teamfight, as he won't be able to kill you once you have your tank items and Vladimir is a champion that excels in teamfights. He can solo win a teamfight with a single good ultimate and you can actually manage to kill him most of the time.
Rumble
Easy match-up. Rush mercs. Be careful pre-3, he has an insane amount of damage early and can literally oneshot you lvl 2. After 3 though, it gets easier. You win all-ins as long as you hit your Q's. Level 6 is where you pretty much can't lose anymore. In an all-in, you can just R after he R's and it will be gone. You outscale him but don't underestimate his ult in the late game. You might want to ult him later on into the game in a teamfight situation for this reason. If he can't ult your team he is pretty much useless because that is all he is in the lategame. He is also very easy to kill in Brazil.
Ryze
Hard match-up if the Ryze is good, even match-up if he is equal to you or bad. Rush mercs. Killing him pre-6 is basically impossible because even if you do manage to E him, he will simply root you and phase rush away. If you hit an E post-6 you can AA-Q-R him and try to kill him in Brazil but he will also root you and phase rush away from you here. While he is phase rushing don't try to hit Q on him because you will miss 90% of the time. Frostfire makes this lane easier but still hard. He outscales you so you're kind of forced to play aggressive even though you can't really do that effectively. Don't ult him later into the game unless he is low, he will just run from you.
Rengar
Rengar is an easy match-up but you have to take ignite and rush steelcaps. After that he won't really be able to kill you plus not heal with his W. He will usually keep his fury to get an empowered W after you ult him so he can cleanse it. If he does this just don't ult him, you win the fight without ult because he isn't using his fury. The second he uses his max fury, ult him. This should be obvious but try not to fight around bushes because this will allow him to jump around and maybe dodge some of your abilities. He is pretty easy to kill in Brazil as long as you have anti-heal.
Maokai
One of the easiest match-ups. There is absolutely nothing he can do to win this lane. Never settle for a short trade and always save you E for AFTER he Q's you away so that he can't get away. Try ulting after he used his ult so that you make it disappear. Rush mercs. Don't ult him later on, he will be too tanky.
Heimerdinger
Hard match-up. Rush mercs. You can't really do much pre-6 besides from staying under turret and getting every minion possible, and Mordekaiser kinda sucks at farming under turret. Your ult removes his turrets, but in Brazil you have to hit everything to be able to kill him because he will stun you with his grenade. Additionally you will probably start the fight with about 1/2 of you HP thanks to his poke. Even if you manage to kill him, he will still have prio again until your ult comes back up, unless you are like 4 kills ahead at this point. He's a decent ult target later on, but note that he will probably have Zhonya's at that point.
Pantheon
This match-up is easy IF you respect his early levels, and I mean that. Pre-3 he will absolutely obliterate your HP bar if you even dare to cs, so just stay back and get the exp. until level 3, at which point you can start fighting him, although even this would be risky as his damage is still extreme then. You will obviously need to rush steelcaps here. Post-6 fights become very easy, as his ult can't really be used mid-combat. You outscale him pretty hard and you can ult him later on into the game as he won't build as tanky as most other top laners.
Karma
Very annoying but ultimately easy lane. Rush mercs. Pre-6 you will most likely not kill her but after that, if you ever hit E on her, AA-Q-R her and she's probably dead. Try to not eat free poke, this is best done by staying behind minions and always retaliate with a Q or E if she pokes you. You can quite reliably ult her later on into the game and be pretty sure to kill her, as long as you have anti-heal. Team comps often suffer when their top picks karma, as top laners should usually pick something tanky, so you kind of outscale her in that aspect.
Olaf
Hard match-up. Rush steelcaps and bramble. Respect his early game, otherwise you will die. Seriously, if you ever walk up to the minions and they are slightly behind the center line of lane, he will just chuck Q's at you and run you down without any counterplay. Sadly this doesn't change after level 6 because he can just ult at the beginning of the fight and you won't be able to ult him. If he does not ult at the beginning and mistakenly waits for you to ult him so he can respond with his own in order to cleanse it, just ult him. Even if he does cleanse your ult with his, you will still keep the stats you stole for the 7 seconds, so effectively nothing really happened, except if he was meaning to run away, in which case it was the right choice of him. Obviously you shouldn't ult him in teamfights because he will just cleanse it. Olaf is a very early/mid game centered champion, after which he just falls off a cliff.
Viego
Easy match-up. Rush steelcaps. Assuming you take ignite, you win every all-in, just be careful early and try to keep the trades short. He will rush Divine so build bramble if you are behind and oblivion if you are ahead. Generally you should just try to force all-ins permanently after level 3 and always punish him if he goes for cs. He does kind of outscale you, so try to build a lead early. Ulting him later in the game is probably not the best option, as he will have a lot of duelist items such as Bork, Wit's End or Divine Sunderer.
+Easy to pick up +Good Mid to Late-Game +Powerful in low elo +Hard to take down +Deals notable damage +Good dueling
Weaknesses
-Kiteable -Hard to pull off in high elo -Low skill ceiling -Weak without his Ultimate -Weak early
Keystones
Keystone
Runes
Conqueror
Conqueror is the best keystone for Mordekaiser and should be taken 99% of the time, simply because it perfectly complements his playstyle, which is extended fights. It's also good in every stage of the game.
Grasp of the Undying
Grasp of the Undying is a viable but slightly worse keystone than Conqueror, as your extended fights aren't that good. The good thing about Grasp of the Undying is, though, that your laning phase becomes slightly easier and you could argue that it carries over into the late-game with it's permanent max-health, but it's just not as good as Conqueror.
Lethal Tempo
Lethal Tempo is a pretty cheesy and overstat keystone that gives you an easier time in lane but sort of falls short vs. Conqueror in the late game. This keystone is also only really worth it if you are going the Riftmaker build, as your AA's won't deal much damage otherwise and the Attack Speed will be somewhat wasted.
Everything else
Every other keystone than these three rarely find play on Mordekaiser, as they just simply don't fit his playstyle. I recommend never going any of these unless you're going a For-Fun-Build.
Non-Keystone Runes
Precision Tree
The Precision Tree is the best one for Mordekaiser and should always be taken as first or secondary.
Triumph
Triumph is not only inherently good on Mordekaiser, as it lets you dive better, 1v2 better and teamfight better, but also are the other two runes in this row completely useless on Mordekaiser, so always take Triumph.
Last Stand
Mordekaiser can make very good use of Last Stand if he uses his Indestructible correctly, which is as soon as you got the max bonus from Last Stand, or in other words, at 30% HP. The maximum bonus of Last Stand is bigger than that of Coup de Grace and is granted for longer, so always take Last Stand.
Take Legend: Alacrity over Legend: Tenacity if the enemy team has little to no CC. This, however, is pretty rare and usually attack speed is not that important on Mordekaiser anyway, so, by default, go with Legend: Tenacity.
Resolve Tree
The Resolve Tree is the second best tree for Mordekaiser and should also always be taken as first or secondary.
Conditioning
Conditioning is in my opinion the best rune to take in the Resolve Tree, partly because I am confident enough in winning lane without either Second Wind or Bone Plating, but also because it gives you so much free gold worth of stats, roughly 600g on average.
Bone Plating
Bone Plating is a powerful rune in the laning phase that lets you outtrade an opponent that is normally stronger than you. Take it into champions, that can't proc it from range, such as Jax or Wukong. Personally though, I am confident enough in winning lane without it, so I usually take Conditioning instead.
Revitalize
Revitalize has more value when going Riftmaker, as you will be healing more. Still, Revitalize is also a good rune when going Frostfire Gauntlet, it just comes down to preference which rune to take, as they are all good.
Unflinching
Unflinching is extremely useful when the enemy team has alot of slows or generally tons of CC. It should be taken into champions like Dr. Mundo, Ashe or Tahm Kench.
Overgrowth
I like Overgrowth for a similar reason to Conditioning. They are essentially the same runes, just one grants Health and one grants Armor and MR. I like the gold in stats it grants for free, which is around 700g per game.
Second Wind
Second Wind, similar to Bone Plating, is mostly useful in the laning phase and should be taken into poke lanes like Gnar, Teemo or Quinn if you are otherwise not confident in winning these lanes.
Shield Bash
Shield Bash is not bad but in my opinion just a worse version of Revitalize, but in the end if you prefer it then take it. It is viable.
Demolish
Demolish's value obviously depends on how often you use it. You usually only have access to the enemy's turret if you are ahead of them or if they are missing, because you either killed them or they went roaming. So, take this rune if you are absolutely sure that you will stomp your opponent or if you know that your opponent will be roaming alot.
Inspiration Tree
The Inspiration Tree is somewhat niche and is exclusive to the Riftmaker build for reasons that I will clarify now:
Approach Velocity
Approach Velocity grants you 7.5% movement speed towards movement impaired enemies, doubled if you are the source of the impairment. Effectively, what this means is that, when you are chasing someone with the help of Rylai's Crystal Scepter, you will permanently benefit from the 15% movement speed buff. As I explained below in the Items section, buying Rylai's Crystal Scepter is only really worth it when also building Riftmaker.
Magical Footwear
The only other rune in the Inspiration Tree that is worth taking is Magical Footwear. Not only this, but also is it pretty good in itself; you get free boots that also have a permanent 10 movement speed buff. The only problem with this rune is that, in a hard match-up that requires either Plated Steelcaps or Mercury's Treads to be rushed, you will not have access to them until around minute 10, which forces you to either rush Bramble Vest instead of Plated Steelcaps or to just sit on a Null-Magic Mantle until minute 10. With all this said, resort to only taking this when you are either confident to win lane without boots or if you have an easy match-up to begin with.
Everything Else
Every other rune than the ones stated have little to no synergy with Mordekaiser and should never be taken, unless you are going for a For-Fun-Build.
Rune Stats
For the Rune Stats, there are a few combinations that you can choose from, depending on your preferation and the build you will be going for.
Frostfire Default (Personal Favorite)
When building Frostfire Gauntlet, Attack Speed is not as important, as you will not be stacking AP, so we take Ability Haste instead. In the next row, take AP. Why AP, you ask? Well, 9 AP is worth more gold than 6 Armor or 9 Magic Resist. In the third row, take scaling HP, because it's stats are way better than that of Magic Resist or Armor. Additionally, Health always retains the same value, no matter how much you already stacked. Armor and Magic Resist's value, on the other hand, deminishes the more you have, and you will stack alot of resistances on Mordekaiser.
Frostfire Defensive
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Instead of taking Adaptive Force, you can take Armor or Magic Resist in the middle row. This is a better option for when you are less confident in a specific lane or on Mordekaiser in general.
Riftmaker Default
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When building Riftmaker, you will have more AP than on Frostfire Gauntlet, so Attack Speed will have higher value. In the second row, take Adaptive Force. In the third row, take Armor or Magic Resist depending on your match-up.
Summoner Spells
Summoner Spells
Flash
As an immobile champion, Mordekaiser needs Flash, as it will be his only means to beat slippery and kitey champions. It also gives him outplay potential. Not taking Flash will render you useless.
Ignite
Ignite is the best Summoner Spell to take on Mordekaiser along with Flash, and here's why: Mordekaiser's stigma is the "Late game immortal raid boss teamfighter". The problem is that most of these titles are only appliccable if Mordekaiser is fed, and this is where Ignite comes into play, eliminating his weakness early and allowing him to snowball, while not completely sacrificing his late game power. Ignite also fixes most of your bad matchups. This will require you to learn how to lane without Teleport, which is in itself not a bad thing, but it might take a while to get used to.
Teleport
Teleport should be taken into a lane that you are not confident in winning even with Ignite or into match-ups that offer ABSOLUTELY NO kill pressure pre-6 no matter how hard you try, for instance some of the ranged match-ups. You will not kill them pre-6 (assuming they play well) and after 6 you will not need ignite in order to kill them. Still, this is very rare and I still like to take Ignite in these lanes to be sure I can kill them post-6.
Mythic Choice
Frostfire
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Riftmaker
Choosing between Riftmaker and Frostfire Gauntlet is relatively easy. Two factors go into this decision: The amount of DPS your team has and the amount of DPS the enemy team has. The latter is slightly more important. If the enemy team has alot of DPS, go Frostfire Gauntlet. If it doesn't, go Riftmaker. If your team has alot of DPS already, go Frostfire Gauntlet. If not, go Riftmaker. General rules of thumb are: If the enemy team has 2 or more low DPS champs, go Riftmaker. If your team has only 3 or less damage dealers, go Riftmaker. If none of these apply, go Frostfire Gauntlet. As you can see, you will be going Frostfire Gauntlet more often, as the last few seasons have added way too much damage to the game. Personally, I would love going Riftmaker every game but it's just not possible with all this damage. You can be full items with a Riftmaker build and literally get oneshot by an assassin if they have Serpent's Fang.
Comparison
Frostfire Gauntlet
Pros
+Alot tankier +Slows every 4 seconds +Easier Waveclear
Cons
-Less sustained damage -No Omnivamp
Riftmaker
Pros
+Sustained damage +Shreds Tanks +More healing
Cons
-Relies more on hitting abilities -Gets killed more easily
Items
Starting Items
Dark Seal (Highly recommended)
Dark Seal is the single best starting item for Mordekaiser and I build it in around 99.9% of my games, because I am confident in winning lane and if you do win lane, it becomes insanely gold efficient, roughly 500% when fully stacked. It should be noted that you can only go this item if you took Ignite (which you should also always take) because winning lane becomes so much easier with it. With the 150g remaining, buy Refillable Potion, not triple Health Potion. If you're not confident in winning lane, took Teleport or don't like Dark Seal for some other reason, try the items following this.
Doran's Ring (Not recommended)
Build Doran's Ring into every melee match-up with little to no poke.
Bramble Vest should be built against AD healing champions that you've fallen behind or are already insanely strong regardless of gold. The latter would include Olaf, Warwick or Darius.
Oblivion Orb
Build Oblivion Orb into every other healing champion.
Frostfire/Riftmaker
If none of the above applies to your lane opponent or if you are confident to win without them, build straight into Frostfire Gauntlet or Riftmaker. If you are building Riftmaker and are ahead of your opponent, build Blasting Wand first instead of Leeching Leer because you won't need its defensive stats.
Core Items/Most Games
Demonic Embrace
Demonic Embrace is arguably the best legendary item for Mordekaiser, because your passive procs its burn, applying it permanently on your enemies during a fight. Also, you will be stacking HP with essentially every item you buy, which grants you extra AP with Demonic. You should build it in every game as your second or third item.
Spirit Visage
Spirit Visage is also a core item of Mordekaiser because of its great synergy with his kit. His shield, which is already big, will get amplified and the heal afterwards aswell. You conqueror healing will also be amplified. Even if the enemy has no AP source, build this item.
Randuin's Omen
Randuin's Omen is the best armor item for Mordekaiser, and should be built if the enemy team has at least 2 AD Champions. It is better than Thornmail because Thornmail's 60% healing debuff can only be procced by your Death's Grasp, which can miss and also has a pretty long cooldown. If you need healing reduction, go Morellonomicon.
Riftmaker Exclusive
Zhonya's Hourglass
Zhonya's Hourglass is a core item for the Riftmaker build, though not so much for the Frostfire Gauntlet build. Here's why: The effectiveness of Zhonya's Hourglass on a certain Champion is dictated by the relative amount of time you can survive the enemy's damage that is added by Zhonya's Hourglass. As an example, we can take the amount of time you can tank 5 people with the two different builds, and compare how much 2.5 seconds are in relation to that time. On average, a full Frostfire Gauntlet build will let you tank the entire enemy team for roughly 4-5 seconds. With a Riftmaker build, this number drops to around 2-3 seconds if we assume the enemy has anti-healing. What we end up with is 60% vs. 100%. Thus, building Zhonya's Hourglass is way more effective when going Riftmaker. On a side note, the average Mage tanks the enemy team for around 0.4 seconds. This makes the percentage of Zhonya's Hourglass's time relative to that number around 600%.
Rylai's Crystal Scepter
Rylai's Crystal Scepter is a snowbally item that should exclusively be built when going Riftmaker, because the slow from Frostfire Gauntlet does not stack with the slow of Rylai's Crystal Scepter. If you have this item, an opponent without a dash will simply not be able to escape you, which makes it a great buy for when you are ahead. It is also a great rush item if you already got a few kills in lane. If you come back to lane with this item and hit one E on your opponent, you can simply run them down with the perma-slow. It also has a fairly low cost, making it easier to rush.
Anti-Heal
Morellonomicon
Morellonomicon is better than Thornmail as I explained above and if 2 or more Champions in the enemy team have healing, build it.
Thornmail
The only situations, in which you should build Thornmail instead of Morellonomicon is if you are up against a full AD composition or if the enemy has an insane amount of DPS and you really need the tankiness.
Ahead/Offensive Items
Cosmic Drive
Cosmic Drive is a fun item when you are ahead, or vs a low DPS comp. Every single one of its stats are super good on Mordekaiser and its passive also synergises well with Mordekaiser's kit.
Nashor's Tooth
Nashor's Tooth is a niche but effective item for when you are up against a tanky enemy team. It doesn't give you any defensive stats, so only build it when you are ahead or vs. a low DPS comp. It also makes you win practically every 1v1.
Mejai's Soulstealer
Mejai's Soulstealer is even more niche than Nashor's Tooth, because Mordekaiser, unlike most Champions who build Mejai's Soulstealer, needs to come close to the enemy in order to engage in a fight with them and is thus more prone to dying. So, if you want to build this item you either have to be fed enough to simply not die anymore or you have to play more safe, which I personally find boring so you should probably just sit on your Dark Seal.
Shadowflame
Shadowflame is a situational item that you can build vs. shield heavy comps or matchups if you would be having difficulties otherwise.
Defensive Items
Force of Nature
Force of Nature is an insanely efficient item when facing a heavy AP team. It makes you so much tankier vs magic damage and it also gives you a ton of MS. Make sure to only build this item if Spirit Visage is not enough, though.
Abyssal Mask
Build Abyssal Mask instead of Force of Nature if your team is AP-heavy. It gives you insane utility, tankiness and, of course, increased damage. Depending on how little AP damage the enemy team has and how much your team has, you can even build this as your only MR item.
Gargoyle Stoneplate
Gargoyle Stoneplate should be built as a last item if the enemy team has too much DPS. It lets you tank 5 people and use your W twice if you use Gargoyle Stoneplate's active in between of the W's. Additionally, nobody expects you to have this item, so you can bait them with low hp and when they try killing you, you can surprise them with a 3000HP shield.
Item Set
If you want these items as a set ingame, you can copy this text and import it into your client:
Fake-Leashing is the act of not showing on lane before 1:45 when your jungler started bot-side. This way, the enemy team cannot exclude the possibility of your jungler starting top-side. Of course, showing up late requires you to sacrifice some lane-prio. Thus, this should not be done against certain champions that make excellent use of early lane-prio, such as Tryndamere, Irelia, Yone or Yasuo.
Pre-Level-3
Mordekaiser's base stats are terrible and you level your W at level 3, so you get one-shot before that. Pretty much everyone beats you in this stage, so play safe and don't get engaged, you will probably lose half of your HP or more. You can use this stage to poke down your enemy with Q's to prepare for an all-in as soon as you hit level 3, but I recommend just getting as much CS as possible. Even better, if you can poke the enemy AND get CS, do it.
Cheater-Recall
If you are up against a champion that is very weak in the early game or someone that yielded lane-prio for some other reason and lacks waveclear, the Cheater-Recall is an excellent way of "cheating" your way into an early advantage and allowing you to freeze. The execution is quite simple: First, get early lane prio. Obviously, into most match-ups for Mordekaiser, this is quite hard and sometimes even impossible, but just in case you did actually get early lane prio, follow the second step: Slow push the first two waves. This means to first of all push, but to also not have your wave crash into the enemys tower, so that it can stack up as many minions as possible. As soon as the third wave arrives, push it as hard as you can. As your stacked up wave crashes into the enemy's tower, recall. If you didn't miss too many minions, you will be able to afford a Ruby Crystal or Cloth Armor or even a Null-Magic Mantle if you're vs. AP. Assuming your lane opponent has low wave-clear, he should not be able to fully shove the wave before you return to lane. This means that you can now freeze the wave that is pushing toward you. I've explained freezing further below in this same Tab. The enemy will also not be able to simply break your freeze, because you have an item advantage.
Levels 3-5
You will still lose against roughly half of all toplaners during these levels, unless you have poked them down enough. If your enemy is not that strong early-game or poked down, try for an all-in. If both is not the case, keep poking and farming from afar. You can go for trades but keep them short. Use the Basic Short Trade in this stage of the game. I have explained the Basic Short Trade in the Mechanics/Combos-Tab.
Post-6
This is where you get really strong. Your Realm of Death + Ignite makes you an insane duelist. You can 1v1 most toplaners at this point, so try forcing all-ins.
Farming under Turret
Farming under turret isn't something that can really be taught, it just comes with experience. What you should know, though, is that Mordekaiser sucks at farming under turret and you should try avoiding it at all costs. Alternatives include: Freezing, clearing the wave before it crashes or to just perma-shove but this is not the best option most of the time.
Freezing
Freezing is an insanely effective method of consolidating a lead by starving out your opponent. If a freeze can be pulled off, it's really strong and should be done. Freezing requires 3 prerequisites. These include:
Your ability to freeze
Obviously, a freeze can only be pulled off if you know how and what a freeze even is. If you don't, a freeze is essentially a wave state where you have the waves crash into each other on your side of the lane and to keep the waves there by always having the enemy wave have 3 caster minions more.
You being stronger than your opponent
If your opponent is stronger than you, he will simply "thaw out" the wave by killing your minions and having them crash into your turret. This way the waves will reset and crash in middle of the lane again. If you are stronger than your opponent, you can punish him whenever he tries to touch the wave/cs.
The wave state allowing it
You can only initiate a freeze if the enemy wave is pushing towards you. You can manipulate the wave to push toward you either by crashing multiple waves into the enemy tower with a slow push, or to briefly tank a reset wave in front of the enemy turret so that the waves crash on the opponents side of the lane. This will cause a slow push towards you.
The beauty of a freeze lies mostly in the fact that you are ungankable and if the opponent tries to even get xp, he will be prone to a gank. The only problem with freezing as Mordekaiser is that you will break the freeze yourself if you bully the opponent. So, if you want to bully the opponent, be sure to always all-in him, otherwise you will be left with a thawed out wave. If you kill him, hard shove the wave and back. When you are back to lane, the enemy wave will slow push into you again, allowing you to freeze once more.
Here's a diagram to better understand the wave state that is required for a freeze: (It's a bit older but it still applies)
Perma-Shove
This strategy is pretty simple and essentially consists of this: You hard-shove every wave under the enemy's turret and poke your oppponent with isolated Q's as they are farming the minions you just shoved. Once they are low enough, dive them, preferably using the E-R combo. This strategy has 2 prerequisites:
1. You are ahead/stronger than your opponent
In order to shove the waves, you obviously need to be stronger than your opponent, otherwise they will just kill you.
2. Your opponent does not have anti-poke/sustain or is too tanky
If your opponent can't be poked down low enough and just keeps sustaining your damage, you can't dive him. Similarly, tanky champions take way too long to reach an adequate amount of HP to be dove. These champions include most tanks, such as Ornn, Sion, Tahm Kench, Dr. Mundo or Cho'Gath. As an example for Champions that simply sustain your poke you can take Sett. In addition to all this, Champions that can CC you while you are poking them under turret are also immune to this strategy, as they can simply CC you, such as Darius' Apprehend, and have you take more damage than them or even kill you. If you are ahead against any of these kinds of champs, try freezing to press your lead.
You should also note that, when applying this strategy, you don't really need to ward the river bush right next to the lane, because you are ahead enough to simply 1v2 the jungler and toplaner. Rather than that, save your wards for vision on their buffs or generally choke points in their jungle. If your opponent under turret ever just Recalls and does NOT Teleport back, try getting at least one turret plating and make sure to clear one more wave, even if that means going behind the enemy turret to clear it.
After Killing your Lane Opponent
Generally after you kill your opponent, you want the wave to push toward you as you come back to lane and guarantee the enemy toplaner to not be able to fully shove it, so that you can set up a freeze and consolidate your lead. In this case, we would always try to come back to lane at the same time as our opponent, to first of all get as much as possible while they are dead (which ALWAYS includes shoving the wave, and getting platings IF the time allows it) and second of all to not allow them to shove before we arrive, as this would cause the wave to reset. For this, we need to simply Recall when the opponent's death timer is at 8 seconds. This will guarantee for both to return to lane at roughly the same time. All this, though, does not apply when you are making use of the "Perma-Shove" Strategy. Here, a reset wave doesn't really bother you, as you will just be shoving it again, so you can get more platings, as long as the opponent is not there. Also, if you are ever really ahead, what you can do is, after you kill your opponent, shove the wave and walk into the lane bush closest the opponents turret. This will make them think you Recalled, but in reality you were just waiting for them to come back. When they walk past you, just kill them again.
Post-Laning-Phase
Objective Macro
Whenever there is about a 1 minute timer on Dragon and you know that your team can contest it, push out the top wave and walk to Dragon. If you know that your team cannot contest it, splitpush top and try to get the t2 tower. Whenever Baron Nashor is up or about to come up, try not to be too far away from it. If you know that your team cannot contest it, splitpush bot. The enemy will be at Baron Nashor, which is the opposite of the map. If they are NOT on Baron Nashor, and instead try to 3v1 you, signal your team to do Nashor. Otherwise, if your team could theoretically keep the enemy from doing Nash, stay close to it. Even better, if your team can force a Nash, go for it. If you took Teleport (Why), you can Splitpush while an objective is coming up or is up on the opposite of the map and use it when your team starts fighting (if that will result in your team winning).
If Baron Nashor, Dragon or even Rift Herald are on low HP, you can indirectly "secure" it by ulting the enemy jungler. In your Realm of Death he cannot interact with said objective, leaving your jungler to freely smite it and get it with a 99% probability. I highly recommend doing this whenever the enemy jungler has potential to steal an objective. Place a Ward over the wall and just ult him. You will not kill him, but that is worth it.
Teamfighting
Teamfighting with Mordekaiser is fairly straightforward.
Before the fight
Before anything happens, choose your prefered ult target. I've explained the process in the Ability Usage-Tab.
Engaging
You can be the one to engage, but I would strongly advise against it. Your only "Engage"-Ability is your E, if you can even call it that. Your E, though, is not reliable at all and will most likely not hit more than 2 people. If, though, you can be sure to hit at least 3 people with an E, definitely go for it. If you absolutely need to be the one to engage and are not sure to hit E, chances are you won't be able to ult your prefered target, as you will have to immediately ult someone to not be oneshot.
Fighting
If your team has an engage, just walk to your target and ult. If your target is not already in your melee range, use the E-R Combo. If you don't know, what the E-R Combo is, look it up in the Mechanics/Combos-Tab. If both teams are even, the result of the teamfight depends heavily on you killing your target in Brazil. If you don't, your ult will be somewhat wasted and Mordekaiser without his ultimate is kind of weak. Also, if you do kill your target inside Brazil the fight will turn into a 5v4 in your favor. After leaving Brazil, always try to E the backline if it still exists. They are the only ones that can bring you down. If you hit, try killing the enemy you hooked. If you miss your E or there is no backline, just fight the people in front of you and try surviving for as long as possible.
Farm, Farm, Farm!
Keep up your CS! Even if that means taking some jungle camps. CS is the biggest and most reliable source of Gold, and can sometimes even bring you ahead of someone with many kills. If you are ever moving somewhere, always make sure to take CS there, or get at least 1 kill, otherwise moving there will be wasted. Rule of Thumb is to never go below 6CS per minute.
Keep up in XP!
Arguably even more important than your gold, especially when considering that Mordekaiser has a few level scalings in his kit itself, so make sure you are NEVER behind in levels. The stats a champion gets with one level is roughly equal to one kill or two waves worth of gold. When you are ahead in levels, you feel like a raid boss. Equally, when you are behind, you feel really weak and you just get one-shot.
Late-Game
Mordekaiser's late game is not as strong as it once was, but by no means weak. Not much changes here, Macro-wise, except for making sure to not die and always being at Objectives in time, as they get shred this late into the game. If you're trapping/going for catch plays, always make sure the enemy does not have vision on you.
Ability Usage
Q - Obliterate | Positioning
Isolating Q
As you already know, your Q deals 160% damage if it hits only 1 enemy. When fighting near or inside minions, try aiming your Q so that it hits only the enemy champion. Not only will this deal more damage to your enemy, but also will you not push the wave this way. Depending on your game plan, this will be a huge benefit.
W - Indestructible | Timing
Timing in short and long trades
In a long trade/all-in make sure to ALWAYS use your max shield. If not, it's wasted potential and it often makes the difference in early fights. Short trades are different. If you try to go for the max shield in a short trade, chances are you won't even get to use it until the trade is already over. So, try using it as you are still fighting, without laying too much value on getting the max shield. Obviously, you need to make sure to NOT carry it over into a long trade if your shield was too small. Another thing to keep in mind is to only go for short trades if your shield is already at least 1/3 full.
Early to Mid-Game
On Mordekaiser, you will be taking Last Stand. If you shield at around 30% HP, you gain the most out of Last Stand because it will be active for longer than if you use W any earlier. This only applies to all-in fights.
Late-Game
At this stage in the game, your W's cooldown will be low enough to use it twice in one fight. For this reason, try to W as early as possible in order to be able to use it once more.
Consuming W
If you can know for sure that a fight won't be happening for the next 8-ish seconds, you can consume your W shield for healing.
E - Death's Grasp | Come Here!
Normal Usage
The normal usage of your E is to obviously bring people closer to you so you can beat the **** out of them. It's hitbox is pretty thin and it's cast time is rather slow, making it hard to hit.
Placement
As you might already know, your E works like this: It gets spawned on the ground and a hand swipes from top to bottom. Enemies only get dragged if they are hit by the hand, meaning that the further away they are from the top of your E, the easier it will be for them to dodge it. If you want to increase its chance of hitting, place the top of your E as close to your opponent as possible while also excluding the possiblitly of them escaping towards the top of it.
The E Self-Peel
Many already know this one but most of the players execute it the wrong way, by having their cursor too far ahead of Mordekaiser when using E. This often leads to the E not even hitting the champion that is chasing them. For those who don't know, as you are running away from someone, you can plant your Death's Grasp right in front of you so that it essentially spawns below you. The enemy chasing you will either have to walk back or get pulled back, both resulting in you getting away from them. Higher skill level players will expect you to do this, so they will try to chase beside you. When they do this you can try to place the E on the side he is running.
Here's how it looks:
R - Realm of Death | Brazil
Usages of Ult
To win the 1v1
The most obvious reason. You steal 10% of your targets stats and gain those stolen stats, effectively becoming 20% stronger than your target. Some champions, such as Trundle, also have a stat stealing gimick, just like Mordekaiser. It is preferable to steal their stats after they steal yours, so that you gain some of the stolen stats back.
Common Misconception: The description of Realm of Death says 10% of the target's CORE stats. This leads many to believe that Mordekaiser is simply stealing their BASE stats, meaning the stats they would have without any items or runes, only from levels. THIS IS FALSE. In this context, CORE stats stands for a select few stats, which include Attack Damage, Ability Power, Max Health, Armor, Magic Resist and Attack Speed, of which 10% of their TOTAL value is stolen, NOT their BASE values or BONUS values.
Effectively, what this means is that whenever you are fighting an enemy that has some form of stat boost in their ultimate, such as Renekton, Nasus or Volibear, ulting them AFTER they have used ult gives you an advatage over ulting before them, as you steal part of the stats they gained from ulting.
To remove other champions/To make a X>1 vs. 1 a 1vs1
Also fairly obvious. Better to fight 2 1v1s than to fight a 1v2.
To stop the enemy's retreat
Your target cannot walk outside the bounds of the Realm of Death, so he can't run away from you.
To save a teammates life/To peel
When you see the fed Kha'Zix jump onto your ADC, ult him and save your ADC's life.
To deny the enemy jungler from smiting/stealing an objective
If you ult the enemy jungler before the objective's health bar drops to around 2000 HP, you effectively guarantee your team to get said objective, as he can no longer interact with it inside the Realm of Death.
Choosing Ult Target
1st Priority:
Your target has no way to Cleanse your ultimate. This includes Quicksilver Sash, which ADC's often like to build vs. Mordekaiser, Gangplank's Remove Scurvy, Alistar's Unbreakable Will, Olaf's Ragnarok, and so on. If they do have a Cleanse and use it on your ult, it is wasted. Weirdly enough, though, the actual Summoner Spell Cleanse does NOT cleanse your Ultimate, so don't be afraid of ulting the ADC if he took it.
2nd Priority:
You need to be able to actually kill your target in the Realm of Death, otherwise your Ultimate was wasted. Even worse, if your target can beat you, then you essentially played yourself, because you too cannot escape the Realm of Death before the 7 seconds are over.
3rd Priority:
You need to be able to reach the target/catch up to them. If the target jumps over a wall or perma kites you, your ultimate is wasted.
4th Priority:
Your target needs to be useful to the enemy team. Your ultimate is essentially wasted if you use it on the 0/17 Nunu that has been rolling it down mid the entire game. Ulting the Diana, for example, who is really good at teamfighting, would be way more effective.
Ult Timing
1st Priority:
When you are on the verge of death. Don't wait any longer, ult NOW!
2nd Priority:
When your target is adequately low. If your target is at full HP at the time of ulting him, chances are you won't be able to kill them in time. Even in a 1v2 situation you should wait before your targets HP is low enough to be able to kill him in the Realm of Death. This does not apply as much to squishier targets as they are usually easier to kill, unless they have good means of escape.
Fighting inside your Ultimate
If your target is actively fighting you inside the Realm of Death:
Nothing to add to the usual fighting, just fight like you would fight outside.
If your target is running from you inside the Realm of Death:
Do NOT use your E as your target is running from you, you will miss it 90% of the time. The target is going to expect you to throw your E and run in a wavy line. Instead, just run at them until you can throw an Auto-Attack at them. This will slow them and guarantee you next spell to hit, which would preferably be your E, so that you can also guarantee your Q to hit right after.
Mechanics/Combos
Regarding Mechanics and Combos, Mordekaiser does not have much to offer, there are a few mentionable ones, though.
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E-Q Combo vs. Q-E Combo
Most Mordekaiser players always use the E-Q combo, which is not bad, but the Q-E combo is better in most situations and here's why:
1. The Q-E Combo is faster
Assuming you start walking toward your opponent after you've hit the first spell of your combo, you can start walking after Q'ing because your E does not need you to stand still. In the E-Q combo, after hitting E you would still have to stand still once again because of your Q. Additionally, Your Q ending frames overlap with the beginning frames of your E.
2. The Q-E Combo is easier to land
People do not expect you to throw your E right after your Q, making it easier to hit. When you are chasing someone, they will expect you to use your E first and we all know that hitting your E is practically impossible when they know you will be using E. Your E is harder to hit than Q because of its long cast time and thinner hitbox. If you Q them first, which will more probably hit than E, they will reveal their dodge pattern or maybe not even try dodging anything else afterwards, thinking you do not have E up, because if you did, you would have used it first, making it easier to hit E.
3. It's more satisfying
This one is obviously a more personal reason to use this combo but I just think its more satisfying than the E-Q combo.
When is E-Q better?
If the enemy you are intending to hit is not within your Q range, forcing you to E first in order to be able to hit Q.
Watch the 2 combos in-game and decide for yourself:
Q-E: E-Q:
Is the opponent running from you in wavy lines?
Everytime they do this it seems like you can't hit any spells, and that's exactly why we won't use any spells. Them running in a wavy line makes them slower, allowing you to catch up to them and AA them until they notice that their strategy isn't working and will start running from you in a straight line again. Now you can hit your spells.
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Basic Short Trade
In the laning phase, especially early, this combo will come in handy if you only want to Q-E-AA without extending the fight further. It consists of Q'ing the enemy, then using your E behind you so that it pulls the enemy away from you. While your E is still on the ground, autoattack the enemy. This will guarantee the enemy to be pulled away and to not be able to extend the fight. Use this combo vs. early game powerhouses like Darius, Trundle, Sett, Warwick, and so on, that you would rather not fight for longer.
You can also choose to auto-attack first:
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The E-R Combo
If you are fighting a fast champion post-6 that makes it hard to hit E, use the E-R combo to guarantee it to land.
Why does it guarantee the E to land?
Your R has a 0.5 second cast time, during which the target is slowed by 75%. If you immediately R someone after planting your E right below them, it is practially impossible for them to dodge it. This is obviously ineffective vs. champions with dashes.
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Q-Flash
Most will know this already, but you can Flash in the middle of Obliterate's animation. This interaction, however, does not behave like most [Ability]-Flash combos: After flashing, your Q will not retain its original direction, but rather its original aim location, which you need to keep in mind when making use of it. This will lead to some very weird looking interactions. The only good scenario I can think of where this interaction actually benefits you is when someone throws an important skillshot at you while you are Q'ing. This way you can flash somewhere else, with that location still being in range for hitting Q. You would stand somewhere else but still hit Q and you dodge the skillshot.
Q-Flash Interaction: (Watch the cursor closely)
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Masking R Animation with Q
"Masking" might not be the most accurate word to describe it but it is applicable to some extent. This mechanic is mostly used against a champion that has a spell that briefly makes him unstoppable or gain a spell shield, such as Ornn, Volibear, Kled, Nocturne, Fiora or Sivir. Your R animation hast a cast time of 0.5 seconds, which allows for the enemy to cast their CC-Immunity spell right before your R goes through, putting it on cooldown without actually going through. Most players don't expect you to R right after Q so they won't be as alert.
THIS INTERACTION DOES NOT GUARANTEE YOUR OPPONENT TO NOT CANCEL YOUR R, HOWEVER IT DOES INCREASE ITS CHANCE TO GO THROUGH
Here's how it looks in-game:
Dear Iron Revenants
Hi there, King!
You, yes, you reading this. Thank you so much for reading my Mordekaiser Mobafire guide! I've put alot of work into this, so I hope you found this guide helpful and learned a few things. If you did, make sure to give this guide an upvote, it would mean the world to me. If you didn't like this guide, please let me know why and I will try to improve it in that regard. Have a nice day and good luck in your SoloQ games! Also, feel free to ask me any questions in the comments, I'll be happy to answer them.
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