So this is just my basic Morde build that I use. This is the first build that I have made on here. Morde was my main for several months and still continues to be my best champ to play. I build him very tank like with some AP power. The important thing to stress in this build is that it is very situational to the team you are playing. I have had extreme success with this build and I hope you will too. I find Morde to be a very unique champ because of his passive. It is important to learn how to farm with it and use the shield to your advantage. He has an incredible harass with his siphon of destruction and the ability to not only put the creeping death on your champ or an allied champ but on minions as well is very useful. I've had plenty of 15/2/10 games and 4/4/20 games with this build, so I want other to try it out. I can't recount all the times I have seen another Morde on the enemy team building the wrong items and I own his face all game long. So give it a try and let me know what you think!

For Runes I go with Magic Pen Marks, Flat Health Seals, Ability Power Glyphs and Ability Power Quints. I chose these caster type runes because I build tanky early game and having the increased magic pen and ability power helps early game for lane dominance. As far as seals go you can really use whatever your preference is toward survivability. I have armor seals but only because i build magic resist in items. The health early game is useful because the +50 health would be negating one enemy spell or basic attack. If you want to buff your AP early game you can try using AP seals or magic pen seals or even cooldown reduc seals.

For Masteries I go 9/21/0. I use Morde as a Off-Tank because his ability to be powerful without AP is so high. The extra health and magic resist and armor are extremely helpful to the use of your passive.

For Summoner Spells I almost always take exhaust and ignite with Morde. This is simply because using ignite with your ultimate allows you to do a lot of damage. Early game if you are soloing against a teammate you can ignite them and ult on them and then siphon and exhaust them as they are running away allowing you to activate creeping death as you chase and hit mace of spades. This will usually put them in a position where they have to b to the base and allowing you to push the minion wave and attack the turret before they get back. Exhaust and Ignite both work well offensively and give you the edge in teamfight because you can both take damage and deal out a lot at the same time.

This is where the build becomes situational. Force of Nature should always be rushed first. The early movement speed that you get is extremely helpful because it allows you to not have to rush boots. There have been times where I have built Force of Nature and Sunfire Cape before even buying level 1 boots simply because Morde can indefinitely stay in lane for long period of time. The magic resist is great against AP champs and the Health Regen is great against AD when you tower hug. There are several build that want you to start with a dorans items. This can be helpful if your not used to playing somewhat safe. A dorans shield provides health regen which is helpful and the additional health is nice. I would stay away from Dorans ring, if you want AP go with an amplifing tome into a kage pick or something. Sorcerers boots are the way to go since you won't build a lot of AP in the match. Mercury Treads can be a good idea if you have a team with a lot of Crowd Control or CC. If you want to go a lot more tanky and less AP, I would suggest getting Merc Treads for the CC reduc and Magic Resist. Both are good options. Many times I barely get to build past full boots, Force of Nature, and Sunfires. Rylais is a another great item for Morde simply because it gives you health and the ability for your spells to slow is extremely helpful in team fights.

From Here is you are playing against a heavy AP team you are going to want to look at more magic resist items. This is where Abyssal Scepter comes in because the passives ability to lower magic resist also allows you to do more damage with your spells. But there have been times where AD/AS champs have been targeting me and I will rush Thornmail or Zhonyas for the armor boost. Zhonyas passive allows you to initiate in team fights.

When leveling skills. I find it important to get all three skills in the first three levels simply because it allows you to farm your passive shield and keep it up to absorb damage from your lane enemies. I always find it important to level the siphon of destruction first because it is very good for harassing in lane. There is enough time that if an enemy is standing by their turret taking damage that you can run in behind minions, siphon and run back out of turret range before the turret will target you. This allows you to harass from a distance and not take too much damage. Both the creeping death and mace of spades force you to get close to the target. Therefore I level the ultimate when possible and balance level the mace of spades and creeping death after maxing the siphon of destruction.

One of Morde's greatest attributes it his ability to solo lane with a jungler. His passive shield allows you to farm minions and negate enemy damage. The siphon allows you to farm gold, passive shield, while doing damage to enemies.

Also it is important to know how your ultimate works. Not only does it do damage to enemies when attacking but it can also be used for suvivability. If you are being attacked remember to farm minions for shield but your ulti also allows you to get health back and remain alive. Also make sure to target the right type of champs with your ult. In a team fight almost always target an AD melee or range champ if you can. An Ashe ghost or Cait ghost with completely turn the tables in a teamfight. Champs like Xin and Gangplank are also good targets. They can be very helpful in tanking turrets and doing significant damage.

With Force of Nature and Full Boots you can move around the map quickly. Ganking is a strong option with Morde because you can push your lane town and take the first tower quickly. After getting that tower down, it is important to help your teammates out. This is one place Exhaust comes in handy.


Please feel free to share any comments or suggestions for others below. I will try my best to answer any questions or respond as possible.